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Digestibility of Prey by the White Stork (Ciconia Ciconia) Under Experimental Conditions

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Digestibility of Prey by the White Stork (Ciconia Ciconia) Under Experimental Conditions Ornis Fennica 88:4050. 2011 Digestibility of prey by the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) under experimental conditions Zuzanna M. Rosin & Zbigniew Kwieciñski Z.M. Rosin, Department of Cell Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89; 61-614 Poznañ, Poland; and Department of Behavioural Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89; 61-614 Poznañ, Poland. E-mail [email protected] Z. Kwieciñski, Zoological Garden Poznañ, Browarna 25, 61-063 Poznañ, Poland; and Institute of Zoology, Poznañ University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60-625 Poznañ, Poland Received 7 January 2010, accepted 5 August 2010 Food composition of the White Stork Ciconia ciconia has been widelystudied bypellet analysis throughout Europe, but the effect of digestibilityon pellet contents has remained unclear. We studied the effect of digestion on the composition of pellets (N = 480) under experimental conditions in Poznañ Zoological Garden in 20042005. Twenty-four cap- tive wild-born White Storks were fed mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, insects and earthworms. Onlythe remains of mammals, birds and insects were found in the regurgi- tated pellets. Bones were present in 13.1% of pellets. Three chosen osteological pellet components (skulls, mandibles and innominate bones) were analyzed to determine the amount of bone loss bydigestion. The digestive efficiencywas greater than 95%. Based on a literature review, we compared results of pellet analyses with methods not affected bydigestion (direct observations and preyremains). The invertebrate : vertebrate ratio in the White Stork diet differed significantlybetween methods. Preybiomass rather than the number of preyitems should be considered a better reflection of the diet. 1. Introduction namics of the White Stork Ciconia ciconia,thefo- cal species of this paper (e.g., Profus 1991, 2006, Food acquisition is one of the major factors deter- Struwe & Thomsen 1991, Tryjanowski & Kuni- mining ecological continuityof species and popu - ak 2002, Tryjanowski et al. 2005, Ciach & Krus- lations (Kendeigh et al. 1977, Walsberg 1983). zyk 2010, Kruszyk & Ciach 2010). However, the effectiveness of the use of food re- The diet composition of White Storks has usu- sources is determined bya varietyof physiological allybeen assessed on the basis of direct observa - and ecological factors (Newton 1998). Thus, re- tions under field conditions (e.g., Pinowska & search on food composition mayplaya vital role in Pinowski 1989, Pinowski et al. 1991, Struwe & determining foraging habitats and in the restora- Thomsen 1991, Dolata 2006) or pellet and food re- tion of threatened species (Fasta-Bianchet & mains analysis (e.g., Pinowski et al. 1991, Antczak Apollonio 2003). Food resources and their avail- et al. 2002, Kosicki et al. 2006). However, both ability, both on breeding and wintering areas, are methods produce biased results due to difficulties keyfactors in understanding the population dy - in counting and identifying prey items (Pinowski Rosin & Kwieciñski: Digestibility of White Stork prey 41 et al. 1991) and the fact that preyfound under/in ± 0.360 g and females weighed 2797 ± 0.340 g. nests represent onlythose components that are re - Their sex was determined byusing DNA tech - jected, such as items too large and hence difficult niques (Æwiertnia et al. 2006). During research, all to swallow (Kosicki et al. 2006). Pellet analysis is storks were individuallymarked with colour rings. the most frequentlyused method, where most of The birds were kept inside individual cages of ca. the components of pellets are easyto identify(e.g., 10 m2 in size. The boxes were wire-netted to allow Szijj & Szijj 1955, Pinowski et al. 1991, Bouk- the birds visual contact with other individuals. hamza et al. 1995, Barbaud & Barbaud 1997, Antczak et al. 2002, Tsachalidis & Goutner 2002). Nevertheless, this method also has its limitations 2.2. Feeding experiment (Raczyñski & Ruprecht, 1974, Marchesi & Pedri- ni 2002, Lewis et al. 2004, Tornberg & Reif 2007). The feeding experiment lasted for 10 days for each High digestive efficiencybythe White Stork, in - individual. To reduce the stress caused bysepara - cluding digestion of vertebrate cartilage and bones tion as well as close contact with humans, four to (Szijj & Szijj, 1955, Schulz 1998, Antczak et al. five birds took part in the single experiment simul- 2002, Kwieciñski et al. 2006a), could make this taneously. Each individual was tested only once method inaccurate in identifying the precise diet of (ten days) during the research. The birds were fed this species. Until now the scale of error made dur- with a diet consisting of six types of prey: mam- ing determination of the qualitative and quantita- mals (captive-bred domestic mouse Mus muscu- tive composition of White Stork diet on the basis lus,shrewsSorex species, bank vole Clethrio- of pellet analysis has not been shown. Experiments nomys glareolus, water vole Arvicola terrestris, in which the kind and quantityof ingested food is pine vole Pitymys subterraneus, field vole Micro- controlled can reveal this error. Hitherto such an tus agrestris, common vole Microtus arvalis,har- experiment has been conducted onlyin one spe- vest mouse Micromys minutus, striped field mouse cies of the Ciconiiformes, namelythe American Apodemus agrarius, yellow-necked mouse Apo- Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus (Rhoades & Duke demus flavicollis and wood mouse Apodemus 1975), and for a few species of owls (Strigiformes) sylvaticus); birds (one-day-old chicks of Gallus and birds of prey(Falconiformes) (Raczyñski& gallus, and young chicks of Partridge Perdix per- Ruprecht 1974, Dodson & Wexlar 1979, Barton & dix and Pheasant Phasianus colchicus); amphibi- Houston 1993). ans (brown frogs Rana temporaria, moor frog The aim of the present paper was to investigate Rana arvalis); fish (sprat Sprattus sprattus, perch the digestibilityof a number of basic preyitems by Perca fluviatilis, roach Rutilus rutilus, crucian the White Stork under experimental conditions, to carp Carassius carassius); insects (crickets Ache- check for respective sexual differences and com- ta domesticus, Gryllus bimaculatus and coleop- pare findings with those available in the literature. terans of the familyCarabidae [ Carabus nemo- ralis, Carabus granulatus]aswellassmallerbee- tles of the families Silphidae, Neerophoridae and 2. Material and methods Tenebrionidae) and annelids (earthworms Lum- bricus species). The experimental diet was based 2.1. Study individuals on published data on the White Stork diet in the wild (Cramp & Simmons 1988, Pinowska & Pi- The experimental studywas conducted in the nowski 1989, Pinowska et al. 1991, Pinowski et Poznañ Zoological Garden in 20042005 (May, al. 1991, Antczak et al. 2002). The food was pre- June). We tested a total of 24 wild-born White sented in shallow, plastic containers on the basis of Stork individuals (five males and seven females in the Cafeteria test the same time everyday,i.e., at 2004 and four males and eight females in 2005) ac- about 4 PM (Rychlik & Jancewicz 2002). Food quired bythe zoo due to various traumas, mostly items were counted and weighed separatelyfor wing injuries (Kwieciñski et al. 2006). All White each food type using a Pesola balance to the near- Storks were adults determined on the basis of beak est 0.2 g everydaybefore presentation to each in - and leg colour. Males weighed (mean ± SD) 3230 dividual. The same protocol was followed in 42 ORNIS FENNICA Vol. 88, 2011 weighing uneaten food (for details, see Kwieciñ- Table 1. Food consumption of investigated White ski et al. 2006a, b). Mean mass of each preytype Storks (N = 24). The table shows mean daily num- and their percentage contribution to the overall ber and mass ± SD of food items consumed per diet, and the mean number of eaten preyitems is White Stork individual, and the percentage contri- bution to the overall diet based on mass. presented in Table 1. Water was available ad libi- tum and changed daily. Before each experimental Taxa Number (n) Mass (g) Propor- trial, White Storks were fasted for 24 hours to en- tion in able digestion of previouslytaken food and pass - diet (%) ing previouslyformed pellets. The pellets of each individual were collected Mammals 3.39 ± 1.78 73.81 ± 41.08 30.4 Birds 4.66 ± 2.35 117.86 ± 57.72 48.5 dailyat 24 hours after food supply.Each pellet was Amphibians 0.58 ± 0.96 4.88 ± 8.51 2.0 weighed using a Pesola balance to the nearest 0.01 Fish 3.43 ± 1.29 41.40 ± 15.04 17.0 g of fresh mass. The pellets were stored at 20°C Insects 1.30±1.29 4.01 ± 3.62 1.6 and were dried to a constant mass at 70°C, cooled Earthworms 0.15±0.36 1.12 ± 2.77 0.5 in a desiccator and weighed using a Pesola balance to the nearest 0.01 g (Barton & Houston 1993). Water content (%) was calculated based on the dif- monlyapplied in determining losses in skeletons ference between fresh and drymass of the pellets. of eaten preyand allows for a comparison with re - The pellets were subsequentlysoaked and washed sults from similar studies of other bird groups, par- through a sieve (1 mm mesh; see Antczak et al. ticularlyowls and predatorybirds (Raczyñski& 2002). The food remains were classified into four Ruprecht 1974, Dodson & Wexlar 1979, Kusmer groups: osteological remains, insect remains (head 1990, Bocheñski 2002). capsules, fore legs, hind legs, elytrae, wings and mandibles), inorganic elements (stones) and fur. Due to their rare occurrence, other components 2.4. Literature review (feathers, of which onlyone was found, seeds which were probablycomponents of preydigesta) We reviewed the literature on the feeding habits of were not classified. The osteological remains were the White Stork in Europe in order to determine identified to class level (mammals, birds, etc.). the effect of digestion on diet determination. Stud- Each classified group of bonyremains was ies selected for numerical analysis met the follow- weighed using a Pesola balance to the nearest 0.01 ing criteria. (1) Diet composition was estimated on g. The same protocol was followed for insect re- the basis of a well-defined method.
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