Western Bluebird Captures a Western Fence Lizard

I observed a male Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) capture a western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), the first reported incidence of vertebrate-directed raptorial behavior in the Western Bluebird. There are no previously published reports of Western Bluebirds capturing vertebrate prey, alt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wilson journal of ornithology Vol. 119; no. 1; pp. 128 - 129
Main Author Stern, Caitlin A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Fort Collins Wilson Ornithological Society 01.03.2007
Subjects
Animal behavior
Behavior
Bird nesting
Birds
Bluebirds
Fences
Food and nutrition
Lacertilia
Lizards
Sceloporus occidentalis
Short Communications
Sialia mexicana
Sialia sialis
Snakes
Vertebrates
Winter
United States
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Summary:I observed a male Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) capture a western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), the first reported incidence of vertebrate-directed raptorial behavior in the Western Bluebird. There are no previously published reports of Western Bluebirds capturing vertebrate prey, although there is one previous report of a Western Bluebird carrying an unidentified lizard in the manner of a prey item, and a few reports of predation on vertebrates by the congeneric Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis).
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:1559-4491
1938-5447
DOI:10.1676/06-002.1