Diet Of Little Egret (egretta garzetta) Chicks In The Boughrara Lagoon (Southeastern Tunisia): Prey Selection and Effect of Chicks Age
Keywords:
Boughrara Lagoon, Chicks, Diet, Egretta garzetta, Prey selectivityAbstract
This work aimed at investigating the diet of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) chicks in a breeding colony at the Boughrara Lagoon, in
southeastern Tunisia. Using the regurgitate analysis method; we described the diversity of preys consumed by the chicks. We also sampled available preys in the hunting areas of adult egrets, which allowed us to compare the composition of chicks' diet with the range of preys available in the area. Our results show that chicks are exclusively fed on small fishes, mainly the striped seabream (Lithognathus mormyrus) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). These two preys are more abundantly consumed than is predicted by their availability, which suggests that they are preferential preys. However, deeper analyzes suggest that this prey selection process is related to prey size. Indeed, we have found that a fish should have a weight less than 14.74 g to be a potential prey for chicks. Juveniles of the Striped seabream and European seabass are the most consumed fishes simply because their sizes are below this threshold, making them preys well adapted to chick size. This is also supported by the positive relationship found between prey weight and chick age. As the chicks grow up, their parents feed them with larger preys. Direct observations on the hunting behavior of adult egrets would be needed to address in more details the issue of prey selection for chick feeding.
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