DECEMBER 1995 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 267

methodsof estimatingbreeding group size in Harris' studiesof ecologyand behavior.Cambridge Univ. Press, hawks. Auk 106:480-483. Cambridge,U.K. --AND . 1991a. Dominance hierarchiesand GRIFFIN,C.R. 1976. A preliminary comparisonof Texas helper contributionsin Harris' hawks.Auk 108:649- and Arizona Harris' hawk (Parabuteounicinctus) pop- 660. ulations. Raptor Res. 10:50-54. -- AND -- 1991b. The role of territoriality M^DV.R, W.J. 1975. Biology of the Harris' hawk •n in the socialorganization of Harris' hawks.Auk 108: southernArizona. Living Bird 14:59-85. 661-672. S^NDV.RS, R.R. ^ND W.J. G^BRmL. 1985. Soil survey FAABORG,J. ANDJ.C. BEDNARZ.1990. Galfipagosand of Webb County, Texas. Natl. Coop. Soil Surv., U S Harris' hawks: divergentcauses of socialityin two Gov. Print. Office, Washington, DC U.S.A. raptors. Pages357-383 in P.B. Staceyand W.D. Ko- enig [EDs.], Cooperativebreeding in birds: long-term Received7 November 1994; accepted17 May 1995

J Raptor Res. 29(4):267-269 ¸ 1995 The Raptor ResearchFoundation, Inc.

ACCIPITERSPREY ON NESTLINGBIRDS IN JAPAN

MASAOKI TAKAGI Laboratoryof AppliedZoology, Faculty of Agriculture,Hokkaido University, Sapporo060, Japan

MUTSUYUKI UETA ResearchCenter, Wild Bird Societyof Japan, 15-8 Nanpeidai, Shibuyaku,Tokyo 150,Japan •

SHO IKEDA Groupfor BiologicalResearch of Falcons,2269- 72, Shishiuchi,Toubetu, Ishikarigun, Hokkaido 067-37, Japan

KEYWORDS: Accipitergentilis; A. gularis;Japanese less- Northern Goshawk. A northern goshawkpreying on er sparrowhawk;nestling predation; Northern goshawk. a nestlingbull-headed shrike (Lanius bucephalus) was re- cordedon videotapein westernHokkaido, northernJapan. The diet of Accipiterspp. has beeninvestigated in var- The nest was being videotapedas a part of a study on ious localities(e.g., Brown and Amadon 1968, Opdam et shrikeecology, and was positionedamong vines (Vitis co•g- al. 1977, Kenward 1982, Goszczynskiand Pilatowski 1986, netiae)about 1.2 m aboveground. The four 14-d-old nest- Petty 1989, Hirano and Kimiziwa 1992, Ueta 1992). In lings were recordedon videotapestarting at 0800 H, 21 Japan the northerngoshawk (Accipiter gentilis) preys on June 1992. The adult shrikesfrequently brought prey to medium- to small-sizedbirds (Yamashina 1941, Ishizawa their nest,but during their absencethe nestlingswere often and Chiba 1967). The Japaneselesser sparrowhawk (A. exposedto predators.Nest attackand subsequentbehavior gularis)exclusively hunts small birds such as tree sparrows of the hawk and shrikes were as follows: At 1648 H the and great tits (Parus major) during the breeding season male shrike broughtprey to the nest and left carrying a (Hirano and Kimizawa 1992, Ueta 1992). In addition, fecal sac. At 1649 H the goshawk approachedthe nest hawksadjust their own fledglingperiods to the seasonthat while parents gave alarm calls nearby. At 1650 H the prey bird speciesfledge (Newton 1986, Ueta 1993). Some hawk graspedone nestlingand flew away with it. At 1652 previousreports that hawkshunt nestlingshave been pub- H one nestlingleft the nest.The other two nestlingsalso lished (Opdam et al. 1977, Newton 1986), but theseau- left the nestat 1655 H and 1657 H, respectively.At 1700 thors only observedprey deliveredto hawk nests.There- H the parentsagain gave alarm calls.A few momentslater fore, they did not observethe hunting techniqueused to the hawk came back and searched the vacant nest for a capture nestlings.In this paper, we presentobservations few minutes.The hawk remainedin the vicinityand might on nestlinghunting by northerngoshawks and Japanese havebeen searching for the restof the nestlingsfor several lessersparrowhawks. minutes and then left the observationsite. Even though 268 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS VOL. 29, NO. 4

• .* -- -.t .... i'" ' • ' "• •--- ',• •' ' *' : •., ' •-* -* • '•'

• .... •"•. '•a .,.•<• '-V" •E ß ,• • :' •.'*.'• • '-• '* '7. -* .--½• • ,• . ;½...... - . • ...... • ß •. ";.',,•/.. • .--, %.-- .•,..-•-• • ß • .... • : • -: •..•-•.- . . .: • .. . .- • .•. • ß •.. _• . .•_ • .%..

• '. • ...... • ;• -:...:. .,., -- ....•.½ • .•. .

Figure 1. An adult northerngoshawk capturing a nestlingeastern turtle dove.The •row indicatesthe nestling. Photo•aph by S. Ikeda.

we confirmedon videotapethat onenestling was captured RESUMEN.--Presentamos observaciones sobre la caza de by the hawk, it is possiblethat the othernestlings were polluelospor Accipitergentilis y Accipitergularis. Un A. alsocaught in the secondvisit by the hawk during which gentillsdepred6 sobre polluelos de Laniusbucephalus (uno) the video camera was not focusedon the fledglings. y Streptopeliaorientalis (uno), al norte de Jap6n. Una A northerngoshawk preying on a nestlingeastern turtle hembrade A. gulariscaptur6 polluelos de Hypsipetesarnau- dove(Streptopelia orientalis) was photographed on 22 June rotisen el centrode Jap6n.Aunque la dietade esteggnero 1994 in a shelterbelt, central Hokkaido, northern Japan ha sidoinvestigada en varias localidades,este es el primer (Fig. 1). The camerahad beenset to recordnestling pre- reportesobre capture de polluelospresa en el mismonido. dation by the hawk. [Traducci6n de Ivan Lazo] JapaneseLesser Sparrowhawk. A femaleJapanese lessersparrohawk was observedpreying on nestlingsof ACKNOWLEDGMENTS brown-earedbulbul (Hypsipetesamaurotis) on 13 July We thank F. Ito, C.A. Hass, H. Abe, Y. Watanuki and 1991 in centralJapan. The bulbul'snest was locatedon H. Hukuda for their valuable suggestionsand improve- a 10-m-high branch about 25 m from the hawk's nest. mentsof this manuscript.We are greatly indebtedto H. Nestlingbulbuls captured by the hawk werelarge enough Yonekawa for providing various comments. to fledgeand were fed to the hawk nestlings.The number LITERATURE CITED of bulbulnestlings taken by the hawk wasunknown. This was the only exampleof nestlingprey among443 items BROWN,L. ANDD. AMADON. 1968. Eagles,hawks and that were capturedby thesehawks during observations at falconsof the world. Country Life Books, London, the studysite (Ueta 1992). Thus, predationon nestling U.K. birdsby Japaneselesser sparrowhawks appears to be rare. GOSZCZYNSKI,J. AND T. PILATOWISKI,T. 1986. Diet of DECEMBER 1995 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 269

commonbuzzards (Buteo buteo L.) and goshawks(Ac- 1977. Feeding ecologyof a population of goshawk cipitergentilis L.) in the nestingperiod. Ekol. Pol. 34: Accipitergentilis. J. Ornithol.118:35-51. 655-667. PETrY, S.J. 1989. Goshawks:their status,requirements HIRANO,T. AND M. KIMIZAWA. 1992. Breedingstatus and management.For. Comm.Bull. 81:5-18. and foodsof the Japaneselesser sparrowhawk Accipiter UETA, M. 1992. The number of small birds predated gularisin the residentalarea of Utsunomiyacity, cen- by breedingJapanese lesser sparrowhawks Accipiter tral Japan. Strix 11:119-129. (In Japanesewith En- gularisin suburban,Tokyo. Strix 11:131-136. (In Jap- glish summary.) anesewith English summary.) ISHIZAWA,J. AND S. CHIBA. 1967. Stomachanalysis of 1993. Seasonalchange of prey itemsof Japanese 12 speciesof Japanesehawks. Mis. Rep. Yamashina lessersparrowhawks Accipitergularis during the breed- Inst.Ornithol. 5:13-33. (In Japanesewith Englishsum- ing period.Strix 12:81-84. (In Japanesewith English mary.) summary.) KENWARD,R.E. 1982. Goshawkhunting behaviour, and YAMASHINA,Y. 1941. Birds in Japan and their ecology. rangesize as a functionof foodand habitatavailability. Vol. 2. Iwanamishoten,Tokyo, Japan. (In Japanese J. Anim. Ecol. 51:69-80. with English summary.) NEWTON,I. 1986. The sparrowhawk.T. & A.D. Poyser, Calton, U.K. OPDUM,P., J. THISSEN,P. VERSCHURENAND G. MUSKEBS. Received7 November 1994; accepted27 July 1995

J Raptor Res. 29(4):269-272 ¸ 1995 The Raptor ResearchFoundation, Inc.

NEST RECORDS FOR THE KING VULTURE(Sarcorarnphus papa) IN VENEZUELA

MARSHA A. SCHLEE MusdumNational d'HistoireNaturelie, Mdnagerie du Jardin desPlantes, 57 rue Cuvier, 75237 Paris Cedex 05, France

KEYWORDS: king vulture;nest sites; Sarcoramphus papa; holesin trees, the nest having been located10.5 m above Venezuela. the ground(Ramo and Busto1988). This paper describes two nest sites found in the northern Llanos of Venezuela. The natural history of the king vulture (Sarcoramphus STUDY AREA AND METHODS papa) is not well-known. Although nestlingplumage de- velopmentand threat behaviorhave been documented from Observations were made at the ranches Hato Don Mi- a nest in Venezuela (Ramo and Busto 1988), the first guel and Hato E1 Port6n, located35 km and 17 km, detailed accountsof greeting ceremoniesand courtship respectively,east of Altagracia de Orituco (9ø55'N, (Schlee 1987) as well as nest construction, incubation, 66ø16'W) in the northernpart of the stateof Gufirico not far from the Cordillera de la Costa.Elevations range from parentalcare, and ontogenyof young(Schlee 1994) come 200-500 m, the nest sitesbeing locatedat approximately from captivebirds. 290-300 m. Much of the dry deciduousforest that once Several nest records indicate that king vultures are covered the area has been cleared for the cultivation of ground-nesters.In dense,wet second-growthforest in Pan- corn (Zea mays) and milo (Sorghumsp.) and for cattle ama, one nest was locatedin a rotted tree stump 30 cm grazing;E1 Port6n, however,still has large forestrem- aboveground, and anotherin a scrapemade in the soil nants.The area has highly mixed woodlandswith many and litter at the base of a palm (Smith 1970). A downy of the trees being less than 25 m in height. At least 10 youngwas foundwandering about on the groundin pri- tree speciesare commonto both ranches:araguaney (Tab- ebuiachrysantha and T. serratifolia),locust-tree (Hymenaea mary foreston Barro ColoradoIsland (Lundy 1957), and courbaril), cedro ( Cedrelaodorata ), ox-hoof tree (Bauhinza the presenceof excrementand bits of boneand fur at the variegata), blood tree (Croton gossypiifolius),hog plum base of a tree indicatedthat this spot was probably the (Spondiascytherea), onion cordia (Cordia alliodora), cassia actual nest (C.B. Koford unpubl. data). A more recent (Cassiamoschata), and flame tree (Delonix regia). Four finding in dry tropical forest in the Andean piedmontof other speciescan be found at Hato Don Miguel: erythrina Venezuela, however,shows that the speciesalso uses large (Erythrinapoeppigiana), silk cottontree (Ceibapentandra),