Diet of the introduced gough moorhen gallinula comeri on tristan da cunha

GOUGH MOORHENS Gallinula comeri were introduced to Tristan da Cunha in the 1950s, and are now numerous in lowland habitat, filling the ecological niche of the extinct Tristan Moorhen G. nesiotis. On their native Gough Island, moorhens have a varied diet, ranging from vegetation and fruits to scaveng...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ornis Svecica
Main Authors: Bond, Alexander L., McClelland, Gregory T.W.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Endemic species
Generalism
Island
Predation
Scavenging
South Atlantic Ocean
Tristan
Gough
Online Access:https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/9f2714b2-4eb1-4cd1-8866-3f10792f9173
https://doi.org/10.34080/OS.V31.23476
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117109240&partnerID=8YFLogxK
http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85117109240&partnerID=8YFLogxK
Description
Summary:GOUGH MOORHENS Gallinula comeri were introduced to Tristan da Cunha in the 1950s, and are now numerous in lowland habitat, filling the ecological niche of the extinct Tristan Moorhen G. nesiotis. On their native Gough Island, moorhens have a varied diet, ranging from vegetation and fruits to scavenging and even predatory behaviour. Here, we examined the stomach contents of four birds on Tristan da Cunha to provide insight into their diet. Moorhens mostly ate vegetation, but we also recorded spiders (Arthropoda: Aranea), earthworms (Oligochaeta: Lumbrici-dae), remains of introduced rodents (Mus musculus), and anthropogenic debris. As on Gough Island, moorhens on Tristan have a generalist diet, and the impact of ecosystem restoration (and of the moorhens themselves) should be considered.

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