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Diet of Non-Breeding Wildfowl Anatidae and Coot Fulica Atra on the Perthois Gravel Pits, Northeast France

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Diet of Non-Breeding Wildfowl Anatidae and Coot Fulica Atra on the Perthois Gravel Pits, Northeast France 68 Diet of non-breeding wildfowl Anatidae and Coot Fulica atra on the Perthois gravel pits, northeast France JEAN-BAPTISTE MOURONVAL1, MATTHIEU GUILLEMAIN1, AURELIEN CANNY2 & FREDERIK POIRIER3 1Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, CNERA Avifaune Migratrice, La Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200 Arles, France. Email: [email protected] 2Champagne Ardenne Nature Environnement, Musée du Pays du Der, 51290 Sainte Marie du Lac, France. 3Syndicat Mixte d’Aménagement Touristique du Lac du Der, Maison du Lac, 51290 Giffaumont Champaubert, France. Abstract Gravel pits are important habitats for wintering waterbirds, yet food selection by wildfowl wintering at these wetlands has seldom been studied. Here we describe the diet of eight dabbling and diving duck species, and also of Coot Fulica atra, at the Perthois gravel pits in northeast France. The pits form part of a broader Ramsar area and are in themselves of national importance for several Anatidae. From 343 guts collected, the gross diet of the nine bird species corresponded to that reported in the literature for these waterbirds on other types of inland wetlands, though Pochard Ayhtya ferina were almost exclusively granivorous here whereas earlier studies found that they fed more on invertebrates. All nine bird species ingested seeds, often in abundance, though in addition to Pochard only Teal Anas crecca and Mallard A. platyrhynchos could be considered as being true granivores. Two species (Spiny Naiad Naïas marina and Small Pondweed Potamogeton pusillus) were consistently among the most consumed seeds in eight out of nine bird species. The importance of these plant species may be typical to gravel pit in this study area. Animal prey was also well represented in the gut samples, and this study especially highlights the importance of Bryozoan statoblasts in waterbird diet. Management implications for gravel pit areas are suggested. Keywords: gravel pits, diet, ducks, coot, winter, Perthois, France. ©Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Wildfowl (2007) 57: 68–97 Anatidae and Coot diet in French gravel pits 69 The importance of gravel pits as habitats for (Dasnias 1998). In Alsace, northeast France, waterbirds has long been described the gravel pits of the Rhine valley host 18% (Keywood & Melluish 1953; Svedarsky & of wintering Mallard, 16% of Tufted Duck Crawford 1982). In Great Britain, 140,000 and 6.6% of Pochard of the area (Andres et wintering wildfowl (Anatidae), or 7% of the al. 1994). total national counts, were estimated to The carrying capacity of gravel pits occur on gravel pits in the 1980s. These depends to a large extent upon the abundance habitats were particularly used by Tufted and accessibility of food resources, since Duck (Aythya fuligula), Pochard (Aythya ferina) these areas may be used not only as day and Gadwall (Anas strepera), and to a lesser roosts but also as diurnal or nocturnal extent by Teal (Anas crecca) and Wigeon foraging habitats (Mouronval et al. 2005). (Anas penelope) (Owen et al. 1986). A better understanding of the diet of France is the third most productive sand waterbirds frequenting gravel pits therefore and gravel producing country in Europe would provide crucial information for after Germany and Italy, with c.170 million maintaining or improving such habitats for tons extracted in 2005 (EAA 2006). About birds. Yet few studies have investigated the half of the sand and gravel is of alluvial diet of non-breeding waterbirds in gravel pit origin. Extraction activities therefore create environments, and all of these were in the 1,500–2,000 ha of new flooded gravel pits UK: Street (1975) described the diet of 88 annually (Dasnias 1998). In 2005, the total Mallard wintering in a gravel pit network in gravel pit area in France was estimated at Northamptonshire, Phillips (1991) analysed 44,000–58,000 ha, equivalent to at least one- the gut contents of three Pochard foraging third of the area covered by fishponds in the in Great Linford gravel pits, and Olney country (Mouronval et al. 2005). At both the (1963, 1967a) analysed the diet of 54 Tufted French and European scale, gravel pits may Duck from a gravel pit in Buckinghamshire provide some mitigation for wetland loss or and of 16 Mallard from Sevenoaks gravel degradation, and also complement existing pits in Kent. wetlands, by providing replacement or This paper describes the diet of additional habitat for waterbirds. There is wildfowl and Coot foraging in the Perthois still no overall assessment of the role played gravel pits in northeast France. The study by gravel pits as wintering grounds for area was selected because of its importance waterbirds in France, but several regional for waterbirds – the Perthois is part of a studies highlight the local importance of Ramsar site (“Etangs de la Champagne these habitats for wildfowl (see for example Humide”) that also includes the large Santoul et al. 2004). For instance, 78% of barrage reservoirs of the Champagne Tufted Duck, 70% of Coot (Fulica atra), region, and the site regularly receives over 59% of Pochard, 52% of Gadwall and 36% 100,000 waterbirds during winter or the of Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) in the Ile de migration period. The Perthois gravel France region around Paris are found on pits themselves are of national importance gravel pits during mid-January counts for wintering Coot, Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), ©Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Wildfowl (2007) 57: 68–97 70 Anatidae and Coot diet in French gravel pits Pochard and Smew (Mergus albellus). mainly around recently dug pits, whereas Moreover, 50% of Tufted Duck and 29% of rushes Juncus spp., sedges Carex spp. and Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) within the Willows Salix spp. dominate the shores of Ramsar area are recorded on the gravel pits the more mature sites. Leisure activities, in January (Mouronval et al. 2005). especially fishing and hunting, are common practices on these gravel pits. The surroundings of these waterbodies mostly Study area consist of cereal and sugar beet fields. The Perthois area is located in the middle of The Perthois gravel pits are used the vast wet Champagne depression, close extensively by waterbirds in winter, to the city of Vitry-le-François, northeast especially ducks and Coot; 26 different France (48°43´33˝N, 04°35´09˝E). It is a species of Anatidae have been observed at quaternary alluvial plain, where the River least once within the study area. On average, Marne deposited clay alluviums. The more than 5,000 individual wildfowl and exploitation of the alluviums led to the Coot were counted per month during creation of approximately 300 flooded censuses made between mid-October and gravel pits, with a total surface area of about mid-March. The counts were made twice a 760 ha (Mouronval et al. 2005 provide a month over this period in winters 2000/01 more detailed description of the gravel pits). and 2001/02 (Mouronval et al. 2005). The The oldest were dug by the end of the 19th most abundant species were Coot (average century, and extraction continues today over all counts 3,080 individuals, maximum with, on average, 20 ha of new gravel pits 7,236), Pochard (average 823, maximum created annually. The average surface area of 1,202), Mallard (average 669, maximum the gravel pits is 2.9 ha (s.d. ± 2.8, range 1,635), Tufted Duck (average 264, 0.1–24 ha), and their average depth is maximum 380) and Shoveler Anas clypeata around two meters (s.d. ± 0.7) in winter, 1.5 (average 60, maximum 180). Two duck m in summer. Their banks are relatively species that occur only in small numbers in steep (mean = 37° ± 17.5), but those in the France were also present in the Perthois: most recent gravel pits tend to have flatter Smew (average 24 individuals, maximum 83) slopes. Hydrophytes are well developed and and Goldeneye (average 18, maximum 52). cover, on average, 34% of the sediment Conversely, the average number of Teal (37 area. Twenty-three species of vascular plants individuals), Gadwall (24), Wigeon (4) and and several stonewort (Characeae) species Pintail Anas acuta (4) wintering in the have been described. The shoreline Perthois are insignificant compared to the vegetation varies with the age of the gravel large numbers recorded on nearby lakes and pits, with herbaceous plants belonging to the ponds. The relative abundance of Teal in the Buckwheat family (Polygonum spp.), the hunting bags of wildfowlers shooting over Goosefoot family (Chenopodium spp.), the the gravel pits suggests, however, that Teal Millet family (Echinochloa spp.) and Common use these habitats more during the night (as Spike Rush Eleocharis palustris occurring nocturnal foraging areas) than during the ©Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Wildfowl (2007) 57: 68–97 Anatidae and Coot diet in French gravel pits 71 day (as roosts), since hunting occurs at dawn For most birds the whole gut was or dusk (whilst the birds move between their collected 1–7 h after death, and stored in roosts and foraging areas) or during the 70% alcohol or 3% formaldehyde solution night. A comparison of bird densities until analysed. The content of each gut was recorded at ponds in the surrounding area then separated into animal prey, ‘seeds’ (i.e. with those recorded at the Perthois gravel achenes, oogonia and seeds s.s.) and pits has shown that the latter are particularly vegetative parts of plants. attractive to Coot, Pochard, Tufted Duck The identity of animal prey was and Goldeneye, at least during the day. determined by professional hydrobiologists at the Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture Rhône-Alpes (ISARA) and Centre d’Etude Methods du Machinisme Agricole, du Génie Rural The birds’ diet was inferred from the et des Eaux et Forêts (CEMAGREF) content of their digestive tract (the laboratories, in most cases to the family oesophagus, proventriculus and gizzard), taxonomic level, sometimes more precisely.
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