General observations of the diet of Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Authors

  • Fabio Germán Cupul-Magaña
  • Frank Mc Cann
  • Armando H. Escobedo-Galván

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28947/hrmo.2018.19.1.311

Keywords:

Cannibalism, digiscoping, feeding habits, predation, reptiles.

Abstract

We reported photographic evidence of Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus predation on species Sceloporus melanorhinus (Black-nosed lizard) and Iguana iguana (Green iguana), and its cannibalism of eggs, in an urban area of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We used digiscoping technique to document this feeding behavior. To our knowledge, this note represents the first photographic record of Q. mexicanus preying on S. melanorhinus and I. iguana, and confirmation of consumption of conspecific eggs. Our observations can provide information that encourages research about use of food resources in a widely distributed blackbird

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

AOU (American Ornithologists’ Union). 1998. Check-list of North American birds, 7a. ed. American Ornithologists’ Union. Washington, D.C., E.U.A.

Baicich, P.J., C.J.O. Harrison. 1997. A guide to the nest, eggs, and nestlings of North American birds, 2a. ed., Academic Press. San Diego, E.U.A.

Barrett, R.T., K.C.J. Camphuysen, T. Anker-Nilssen, J.W. Chardine, R.W. Furness, S. Garthe, O. Hüppop, M.F. Leopold, W.A. Montevecchi, R.R. Veit. 2007. Diet studies of seabirds: a review and recommendations. ICES Journal of Marne Sciences 64(9):1675-1691.

Christensen, A.F. 2000. The fifteenth- and twentieth-century colonization of the Basin of Mexico by the Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). Global Ecology and Biogeography 9(5):415-420.

García, A., G. Ceballos. 1994. Guía de campo de los reptiles y anfibios de la costa de Jalisco, México / Field guide to the reptiles and amphibians of the Jalisco coast, Mexico. Fundación Ecológica de Cuixmala, A.C. e Instituto de Biología, UNAM, México, D.F.

Gill, F.B. 1995. Ornithology. W.H. Freeman and Company, Nueva York, E.U.A.

Grabrucker, S., A.M. Grabrucker. 2010. Rare feeding fehavior of Great-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) in the extreme habitat of Death Valley. The Open Ornithology Journal 3:101-104.

Guillory, H.D., J.H. Deshotels, C. Guillory. 1981. Great-Tailed Grackle reproduction in southcentral Louisiana. Journal of Field Ornithology 52(4): 325-331.

Gullion, G.W. 1966. A viewpoint concerning the significance of studies of game bird food habits. The Condor 68(4):372-376.

Gurrola-Hidalgo, M.A., C. Sánchez-Hernández, M.L. Romero-Almaraz. 2009. Novel food sources for Quiscalus mexicanus and Cyanocorax sanblasianus in Chamela, Jalisco coast, Mexico. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n. s.) 25(2):427-430.

Johnson, K., B.D. Peer. 2001. Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). Pp. 1-28. En A. Poole, F. Gill (eds.), The Birds of North America 576. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, E.U.A.

Karnovsky, N.J., K.A. Hobson, S.J. Iverson. 2012. From lavage to lipids: estimating diets of seabirds. Marine Ecology Progress Series 451:263-284.

Kohler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America, 2a. ed., Herpeton Verlag. Offenbach, Alemania.

Larson, K., D. Craig. 2006. Digiscoping vouchers for diet studies in bill-load holding birds. Waterbirds: The International Journal of Waterbird Biology 29(2):198-202.

Leary, P.R. 2004. Digiscope applications for shorebird studies. Wader Study Group Bulletin 104:34-38.

Montevecchi, W.A. 1993. Birds as indicators of change in marine prey stocks. Pp. 217-266. En R.W. Furness, J.J.D. Greenwood (eds.), Birds as monitors of environmental change. Chapman & Hall, Londres, Reino Unido.

Morand-Ferron, J. 2005. Dunking behavior in American Crows. The Wilson Bulletin 117(4):405-407.

Ponce-Campos, P., A. García Aguayo (en línea) 2013. Sceloporus melanorhinus. The iucn Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T64125A3133470. Disponible en: Ë‚http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-2.RLTS.T64125A3133470.en˃ (consultado el 9 de julio de 2017).

Sánchez-Soto, S. 2015. Depredación de Hemidactylus frenatus (Reptilia) por Quiscalus mexicanus (Aves). Zeledonia 19(2):125-127.

Wethje, W. 2003. The range expansion of the great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus Gmelin) in North America since 1880. Journal of Biogeography 30(10):1593-1607.

Published

2017-11-28

How to Cite

Cupul-Magaña, F. G., Mc Cann, F., & Escobedo-Galván, A. H. (2017). General observations of the diet of Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Huitzil Revista Mexicana De Ornitologí­a, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.28947/hrmo.2018.19.1.311

Issue

Section

Notas científicas

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.