Article
Foraging Implications of Food Usage Patterns in Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons
The Condor
(1988)
Abstract
Prey utilization by Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (Nycticorax violaceus) was examined during 1986 and 1987 in the lower Chesapeake Bay of Virginia. Nine crab species were identified in the diet with only three (Uca pugnax, U. minax, Rithropanopeus harrisii) representing 94% of the prey items collected. Habitat associations of the major prey species along with their high incidence in the diet suggest that these species may form highly profitable prey complexes in localized areas and that these areas represent important foraging centers in Virginia. The usage patterns of the minor prey species seem to be related to their degree of habitat overlap with the major prey species. A comparison of Virginia samples to those reported from New York and New Jersey (Riegner 1982a) reveals a discrepancy between the two sites in the occurrence of mud crabs in the diet. This discrepancy is suggested to reflect a geographic shift in the species composition of important prey complexes.
Disciplines
Publication Date
November, 1988
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2307/1368843
Citation Information
Bryan Watts. "Foraging Implications of Food Usage Patterns in Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons" The Condor Vol. 90 Iss. 4 (1988) p. 860 - 865 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/bryan-watts/243/