The diet of the Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae) in the Aegean archipelago (Greece)

In the present study we investigated the diet of Eleonora's falcons in Greece and assessed the regional dietary pattern of 16 breeding colonies of the Aegean. Overall 224 nests were visited and a total of 8067 prey items were collected which contained two mollusca classes, seven insect orders,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of natural history 2019-08, Vol.53 (29-30), p.1767-1785
Main Authors: Xirouchakis, S. M., Alivizatos, H., Georgopoulou, E., Dimalexis, A., Latsoudis, P., Portolou, D., Karris, G., Georgiakakis, P., Fric, J., Saravia, V., Barboutis, C., Bourdakis, S., Kakalis, E., Kominos, T., Simaiakis, S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aegean Sea
Archipelagoes
Beetles
Breeding
Breeding seasons
Colonies
Diet
Diet diversity
Falco eleonorae
Flight
Insects
Lanius collurio
Mollusks
Nests
passerines
Phylloscopus trochilus
Prey
Regional analysis
Reptiles
Species richness
Weather
Willow
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the present study we investigated the diet of Eleonora's falcons in Greece and assessed the regional dietary pattern of 16 breeding colonies of the Aegean. Overall 224 nests were visited and a total of 8067 prey items were collected which contained two mollusca classes, seven insect orders, one reptile family, two mammalian taxa and at least 54 avian species. Cicadas were the most common insects found in pellets (45.1%) followed by flying ants (34.8%) and beetles (15.8%) while just 20 species (33.3%) accounted for over 90% of the avian prey items identified in bird remains dominated (>50%) by the Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), the Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) and the Whitethroat (Sylvia communis). Insect feeding peaked in late August (39.8%) and late September (20.8%), whereas bird remains built up in falcon nests from mid-August onwards, culminating in late September (57.2%) and declined abruptly afterwards. Overall the falcons' diet diversity increased as the breeding season progressed and from the north towards the south Aegean. The avian prey species richness was negatively influenced by the distance of the colonies from the mainland and the weather conditions during September which coincides with the fledgling period of the young and the autumn peak of passerine migration.
ISSN:0022-2933
1464-5262
DOI:10.1080/00222933.2019.1668978