Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches
We studied abundance and feeding behaviour of wintering Sanderling Calidris alba at five beaches along the Belgian coast, and focused on the role of polychaete worms in their diet. On average 10.0 Sanderlings were present per km stretched beach, of which 87.8% were involved in foraging activities. H...
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Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie
2009
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/35340 https://doi.org/10.5253/078.097.0110 |
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ftunivlouvain:oai:dial.uclouvain.be:boreal:35340 2024-05-19T07:38:35+00:00 Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches Vanermen, Nicolas Stienen, Eric W. M. De Meulenaer, Brecht Van Ginderdeuren, Karl Degraer, Steven UCL - Autre 2009 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/35340 https://doi.org/10.5253/078.097.0110 eng eng Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie boreal:35340 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/35340 doi:10.5253/078.097.0110 urn:ISSN:0373-2266 Ardea, Vol. 97, no. 1, p. 81-87 (2009) Sanderling feeding ecology polychaetes Scolelepis squamata sandy beaches info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2009 ftunivlouvain https://doi.org/10.5253/078.097.0110 2024-04-24T01:50:25Z We studied abundance and feeding behaviour of wintering Sanderling Calidris alba at five beaches along the Belgian coast, and focused on the role of polychaete worms in their diet. On average 10.0 Sanderlings were present per km stretched beach, of which 87.8% were involved in foraging activities. Highest numbers of Sanderling occurred on the beach from 2 hours before to 4 hours after low tide. Detailed observations of individual birds revealed a mean pecking rate of 18.7 pecks per min. Birds exhibited several feeding modes, and we distinguished superficial pecking (mainly feeding on wreck) and probing for polychaetes. Feeding on wreck was observed frequently and throughout the tidal cycle. In contrast, probing for polychaetes was limited in time, and occurred primarily when the tide reached the upper intertidal zone, where peak densities of Scolelepis squamata were found. Based on our observations, we conservatively estimated that during each tidal cycle this benthic species may provide only 2.0-9.0% of a Sanderling's daily energy demand. Numbers of Sanderlings appeared to be lowest when capture rates on polychaetes were highest. We therefore suggest that polychaetes are of minor importance for Sanderlings foraging along Belgian beaches. Article in Journal/Newspaper Calidris alba Sanderling DIAL@UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) Ardea 97 1 81 87 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DIAL@UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivlouvain |
language |
English |
topic |
Sanderling feeding ecology polychaetes Scolelepis squamata sandy beaches |
spellingShingle |
Sanderling feeding ecology polychaetes Scolelepis squamata sandy beaches Vanermen, Nicolas Stienen, Eric W. M. De Meulenaer, Brecht Van Ginderdeuren, Karl Degraer, Steven Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches |
topic_facet |
Sanderling feeding ecology polychaetes Scolelepis squamata sandy beaches |
description |
We studied abundance and feeding behaviour of wintering Sanderling Calidris alba at five beaches along the Belgian coast, and focused on the role of polychaete worms in their diet. On average 10.0 Sanderlings were present per km stretched beach, of which 87.8% were involved in foraging activities. Highest numbers of Sanderling occurred on the beach from 2 hours before to 4 hours after low tide. Detailed observations of individual birds revealed a mean pecking rate of 18.7 pecks per min. Birds exhibited several feeding modes, and we distinguished superficial pecking (mainly feeding on wreck) and probing for polychaetes. Feeding on wreck was observed frequently and throughout the tidal cycle. In contrast, probing for polychaetes was limited in time, and occurred primarily when the tide reached the upper intertidal zone, where peak densities of Scolelepis squamata were found. Based on our observations, we conservatively estimated that during each tidal cycle this benthic species may provide only 2.0-9.0% of a Sanderling's daily energy demand. Numbers of Sanderlings appeared to be lowest when capture rates on polychaetes were highest. We therefore suggest that polychaetes are of minor importance for Sanderlings foraging along Belgian beaches. |
author2 |
UCL - Autre |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vanermen, Nicolas Stienen, Eric W. M. De Meulenaer, Brecht Van Ginderdeuren, Karl Degraer, Steven |
author_facet |
Vanermen, Nicolas Stienen, Eric W. M. De Meulenaer, Brecht Van Ginderdeuren, Karl Degraer, Steven |
author_sort |
Vanermen, Nicolas |
title |
Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches |
title_short |
Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches |
title_full |
Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches |
title_fullStr |
Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding Sanderlings Calidris alba on Belgian beaches |
title_sort |
low dietary importance of polychaetes in opportunistic feeding sanderlings calidris alba on belgian beaches |
publisher |
Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/35340 https://doi.org/10.5253/078.097.0110 |
genre |
Calidris alba Sanderling |
genre_facet |
Calidris alba Sanderling |
op_source |
Ardea, Vol. 97, no. 1, p. 81-87 (2009) |
op_relation |
boreal:35340 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/35340 doi:10.5253/078.097.0110 urn:ISSN:0373-2266 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5253/078.097.0110 |
container_title |
Ardea |
container_volume |
97 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
81 |
op_container_end_page |
87 |
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1799478040491720704 |