Western Bluebird Captures a Western Fence Lizard

I observed a male Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) capture a western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), the first reported incidence of vertebrate-directed raptorial behavior in the Western Bluebird. There are no previously published reports of Western Bluebirds capturing vertebrate prey, alt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Wilson journal of ornithology 2007-03, Vol.119 (1), p.128-129
Main Author: Stern, Caitlin A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Behavior
Bird nesting
Birds
Bluebirds
Fences
Food and nutrition
Lacertilia
Lizards
Sceloporus occidentalis
Short Communications
Sialia mexicana
Sialia sialis
Snakes
Vertebrates
Winter
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Summary:I observed a male Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) capture a western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), the first reported incidence of vertebrate-directed raptorial behavior in the Western Bluebird. There are no previously published reports of Western Bluebirds capturing vertebrate prey, although there is one previous report of a Western Bluebird carrying an unidentified lizard in the manner of a prey item, and a few reports of predation on vertebrates by the congeneric Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis).
ISSN:1559-4491
1938-5447
DOI:10.1676/06-002.1