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The Avian Diet of the Australian Hobby Falco Longipennis Breeding in an Urban Parkland in Southern Victoria

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The Avian Diet of the Australian Hobby Falco Longipennis Breeding in an Urban Parkland in Southern Victoria Australian Field Ornithology 2020, 37, 26–38 http://dx.doi.org/10.20938/afo37026038 The avian diet of the Australian Hobby Falco longipennis breeding in an urban parkland in southern Victoria Craig G. Morley P.O. Box 1047, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia Email: [email protected] Abstract. A total of 129 hours of observation was completed on a pair of Australian Hobbies Falco longipennis through two complete breeding seasons, from early courtship until at least a month after fledging. The pair raised three fledglings in the 1992–1993 breeding season and two fledglings in 1993–1994. Avian prey, prey transfer, prey partitioning, prey-delivery rates, potential impact on the local bird community and hunting behaviour are described. The avian diet was mainly small passerines and a few small parrots. The majority of prey by species was House Sparrows Passer domesticus and Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris. At least 55% by number and 64% by biomass were introduced species. The mean mass of identified avian prey was 36 g. Bird species with mass of ≤25 g made up 71% by number and 49% by mass of the diet. In each breeding season, the prey-delivery rate was lowest during incubation (0.17 item/h in 1992–1993 and 0.14 item/h in 1993–1994, and 3.7 and 2.8 g/h, respectively) and increased during the nestling stages (0.65 and 1.12 items/h; 25.7 and 35.2 g/h, respectively). In 1992–1993, it continued to increase in the fledgling period (1.00 item/h and 32.5 g/h) but in 1993–1994 it decreased in the fledgling period (0.50 item/h and 15.4 g/h) after brood-reduction in the nest. Through each complete season, the prey-delivery rates were 0.57 item/h and 19.1 g/h (three fledglings 1992–1993) and 0.45 item/h and 12.7 g/h (two fledglings 1993–1994). Two species—Crested Shrike-tit Falcunculus frontatus and Common Greenfinch Chloris chloris—have not previously been recorded as prey of the Australian Hobby. Introduction were involved. Prey partitioning and prey-delivery rates are also described and quantified, along with supplementary observations of hunting behaviour on birds and insects. The breeding biology of the Australian Hobby Falco Australian Hobbies have bred in the Geelong parkland in longipennis has been described in some detail in several most years since at least 1991 (CGM pers. obs.), including previous studies (Cupper & Cupper 1981; Hollands a successful breeding event in 2004–2005. 1984; Czechura & Debus 1986; Metcalf 1989; Debus et al. 1991; Rosalky 2005) and has been summarised in several reviews (Marchant & Higgins 1993; Olsen Study area and methods et al. 1993; Olsen 1995; Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001; Debus 2019). Czechura & Debus (1986) and Marchant The nests used by the Australian Hobbies in each breeding & Higgins (1993) listed prey species for the Australian season (1992–1993 and 1993–1994) were in Eastern Park, Hobby. Dietary studies or prey lists have been presented Geelong (38°09'S, 144°23'E; 50 m above sea level), an for southern Victoria (Melbourne: Norris 2006), New South area of 80 ha, ~1.5 km east of the Central Business District Wales (Northern Tablelands: Debus et al. 1991; Southern of Geelong. Within the City of Geelong, this park is the Tablelands: Price-Jones 1983; Olsen et al. 2006, 2008), only significant area of parkland that provides extensive Western Australia generally (Johnstone & Storr 1998), bird habitat. It consists predominantly of open areas and the southern Northern Territory (Aumann 2001) and the playing fields bordered by large trees—Sugar Gums northern Australian tropics (Aumann et al. 2016). Eucalyptus cladocalyx, Monterey Pines Pinus radiata, In common with other members of the Falconidae, the Stone Pines P. pinea and Monterey Cypresses Cupressus Hobby shows sexual dimorphism, with the male (210 g) macrocarpa—with little if any understorey. The Geelong being smaller and lighter than the female (290 g) (Marchant Botanic Gardens, an area of 4 ha within the parkland, is far & Higgins 1993; Olsen 1995). During the earlier stages of more densely planted than the rest of the parkland, with a breeding, until the nestlings no longer require brooding, much wider variety of vegetation structure and type, with the male is responsible for all avian prey, returning with flowering and fruiting exotic and native trees, shrubs, and it to the nest area. The male captures prey over a wide perennial and annual forbs and grasses. size range until the female begins hunting, after which, on The Hobbies used two different disused nests of Little average, he captures smaller prey than previously, and Ravens Corvus mellori in Monterey Pines in the north- smaller prey than does the female (Debus et al. 1991; eastern section of the parkland during the two breeding Marchant & Higgins 1993). seasons. This species is known to favour particular This paper describes and quantifies the avian diet perches, as the study pair did, near nest-trees for guard of a pair of breeding Hobbies in an urban parkland in posts, copulation, plucking prey, transferring prey and feeding fledglings (Marchant & Higgins 1993; CGM pers. Geelong, in central southern Victoria, during the late obs.). winter to summer of 1992–1993 and 1993–1994. From the similarities in plumage and behaviour over these two Observations over the two breeding seasons were made breeding seasons, it is likely that the same individual birds from the ground, at a distance of ~40 m from the nest-tree, Avian diet of breeding Australian Hobbies, Geelong, Victoria 27 with the aid of binoculars (8 x 24, 7 x 50) and a telescope were removed from the site. Remains in pellets were not (5-cm objective lens) for a total of 129 hours on 140 days included in the prey count if they could be accounted (Table 1). Some additional photographs were taken in for by observations of prey delivered in the previous 2004–2005. The nestling period was taken to start following c. 3 days, because an item may be shared among the a change in the behaviour of the adults. During incubation, Hobby family with the remains appearing in several pellets. when the male delivered prey, the female left the nest This approach is consistent with the principle of ‘minimum to feed while the male settled on the nest. Egg(s) were number of (prey) individuals’ (MNI) as used in comparable considered to have hatched when the female no longer left dietary studies (e.g. Olsen et al. 2008; Olsen 2014). the nest to consume prey, while the male briefly visited the Prey-delivery rates were calculated as the number of nest to deliver prey and returned to a nearby perch. The prey items delivered (or mass of prey delivered) per unit fledgling period was taken to start when the first nestling observation time (in minutes) in each stage of the breeding flew from the nest-tree, preceded by ‘branching’ when cycle. These figures were converted to an hourly rate (i.e. nestlings left the nest for perches in the nest-tree. After × 60), because observations were mostly spread through 8 January in 1993 and after 4 January in 1994, structured the day (Table 1), although some early-morning deliveries observations ceased; no Hobbies were observed in the might have been missed and morning deliveries were vicinity of the nest area during casual observations. In under-represented for incubation in 1992 and the brooding most phases of both seasons, the observation schedule phase in 1993. All times are Eastern Australian Standard covered morning to evening, except during incubation in Time. 1992–1993 and brooding in 1993–1994, when it covered only from the middle of the day until the evening. Abundance estimates (Appendix 1) for prey and other avian species in the parkland were derived from data Avian prey items were identified by sight from plumage collected from three 2-ha survey sites in the park, in and size characteristics where possible, by feathers accordance with the method used for the 20-minute retrieved from plucked prey, and from prey remains and search method (Loyn 1986) and the Australian Bird Count regurgitated pellets collected from beneath feeding/ (Ambrose 1989). Each 2-ha site was surveyed three times plucking perches. Coarse identification was made by in each breeding season, during late winter (courtship), size. Some pellets, remains and feathers were identified spring (late nestling) and summer (late fledgling stage). by Museum Victoria staff. The mass of prey species was The abundance figure for each bird species is the number estimated from data in Czechura & Debus (1986) and of birds per hectare per survey. One of the three survey Rogers et al. (1986, 1990). sites was adjacent to the Hobbies’ nest area. Care was taken not to double-count prey items observed The vulnerability index for a bird species was calculated being brought to the nest-site and then found several from the percentage occurrence in the Hobby prey divided days later as pellets or remains. All pellets and prey items by the percentage abundance of the species in the bird Table 1. Calendar of events and schedule of observations (number of visits, number of days and times) at an Australian Hobby nest-site, Geelong, Victoria, through two complete breeding seasons. Days are shown as day/month/year. Stage Dates No. visits No. days Total time (h) Time of day 1992–1993 Courtship 16/8–25/9 28 19 15.0 0830–1900 Incubation 4–30/10 32 19 11.5 1250–1950 Nestling Female brooding 31/10–12/11 14 10 8.3 0920–1855 Female off nest 15/11–5/12 24 17 17.9 0830–1940 Fledgling 5/12/92–8/1/93 14 12 14.0 0850–1940 Season total 112 77 66.7 1993–1994 Courtship 22/8–27/9 35 22 22.1 0820–1900 Incubation 28/9–29/10 20 14 14.1 0825–1930 Nestling Female brooding 2–15/11 6 6 5.1 1150–1810 Female off nest 17/11–7/12 9 8 4.7 0730–1830 Fledgling 8/12/93–4/1/94 26 13 16.0 0800–1930 Season total 96 63 62.0 Total both seasons 208 140 128.7 0730–1950 28 Australian Field Ornithology C.G.
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