Observations on the diet of the North African houbara bustard during the non-breeding season |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 13 Natural Resources Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1222, USA;2. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 8562 East Stoll Road, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA;1. REN Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal;2. CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal;3. BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal;4. Center for Mathematics and Applications (CMA), Department of Mathematics, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal;5. Bioinsight, Rua Antero de Quental, 52, 2695-690 Odivelas, Portugal;6. Mãe d''água, Lda., Rua Marcelino Mesquita 11, Loja 4, Escr. 1, 1495-766 Dafundo, Portugal |
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| Abstract: | The North African houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata undulata) is a medium-sized steppeland bird described as omnivorous and opportunistic. Its diet reflects the local abundances of plants and invertebrates. However, comprehensive studies based on both plant and animal materials are lacking to confirm or invalidate this characterization. The diet of the species during the non-breeding season was studied based on the contents of the stomachs of 42 adults collected during 2004, 2006 and 2007 in two regions of eastern Morocco. Taxa were identified to species or genus using a herbarium, a plant epidermis reference collection, an invertebrate reference collection, and an invertebrate fragment reference collection. We analyzed variation in the diet according to sex, region and year. The diet primarily included plant material (66 ± 25% of the dry weight of the stomach contents). The relative proportions of plants and invertebrates did not differ between the sexes but showed variations in space and time. The ingested plant and invertebrate assemblages differed between year and area but not between the sexes. These results suggest that both sexes forage in similar habitats and that their diet reflects spatial and temporal variations in plant and invertebrate availability, as expected for an opportunistic feeder. |
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