Geographic variation in foraging patterns of pre-incubating female Mallards

Differences in productivity between habitats in different parts of a duck's breeding range may influence how birds allocate time to meet the exogenous nutritional requirements of clutch formation. However, no study has compared activity patterns between birds in different portions of their bree...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCanadian journal of zoology Vol. 78; no. 12; pp. 2240 - 2243
Main Authors Dugger, B D, Petrie, M J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ottawa, Canada NRC Research Press 01.12.2000
Canadian Science Publishing NRC Research Press
Subjects
Animal behavior
Animal reproduction
Aquatic birds
Females
Food
Geography
Nutritional requirements
Wildfowl
Zoology
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Summary:Differences in productivity between habitats in different parts of a duck's breeding range may influence how birds allocate time to meet the exogenous nutritional requirements of clutch formation. However, no study has compared activity patterns between birds in different portions of their breeding range. We used focal-bird observations to compare the time-activity patterns of pre-incubating female Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) in the prairie pothole region of Manitoba and North Dakota with those in eastern forested New Brunswick. Birds in eastern Canada had higher foraging effort (63.7 vs. 41.6%, P < 0.01) and spent less time in comfort (12.2 vs. 7.6%, P = 0.01) and locomotion (12.7 vs. 4.1%) activities than birds on the prairies. Females responded to lower productivity by devoting more time to foraging, which may be why Mallards in eastern Canada are able to lay first clutches that are equal in size to those of prairie Mallards.
ISSN:0008-4301
1480-3283
1480-3283
0008-4301
DOI:10.1139/z00-161