Prey of Harris' hawks

Diet of Harris' hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus) was analyzed using 94 pellets and 128 remains of prey collected during autumn-winter 2006 and 2007 in Reserva Oasis la Campana, a privately protected coastal area in central Chile. Hawks consumed primarily small mammals (69.6% frequency, 88.4% biomas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southwestern naturalist 2011-09, Vol.56 (3), p.417
Main Authors: Santander, Francisco J, Alvarado, Sergio A, Ramirez, Piero A, Figueroa, Ricardo A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autumn
Winter
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Diet of Harris' hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus) was analyzed using 94 pellets and 128 remains of prey collected during autumn-winter 2006 and 2007 in Reserva Oasis la Campana, a privately protected coastal area in central Chile. Hawks consumed primarily small mammals (69.6% frequency, 88.4% biomass). Although native rodents were consumed most frequently (52.5% frequency), European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) contributed most of the biomass (56.9%) in the diet. Birds were second in importance (23.2% frequency, 10.5% biomass), and some insects and reptiles were consumed. The geometric mean mass of vertebrate prey (267.8 g) was close to that previously documented for Harris' hawks in areas near the Andes Mountains of central Chile. Composition of the diet in our study was similar to that documented for North America, and was almost identical to that in other areas of central Chile.
ISSN:0038-4909
1943-6262