[BIRDWG05] More information on the diet of Greater Roadrunner
Nigel Venters
nigelventers at onetel.net.uk
Sat Feb 16 03:05:26 EST 2002
Very interesting...seeing as all the mud-pulling butterflies are males...it
probably has little or no effect on the species survival prospects.
Nigel
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pierre A Plauzoles" <sphinxangelorum at bigfoot.com>
To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2002 7:26 AM
Subject: Re: [BIRDWG05] More information on the diet of Greater Roadrunner
>
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> Michael Gochfeld wrote:
>
> > The Roadrunner observations of predation on Painted Lady (wings beaten
off)
> > and Pipevine Swallowtail (no wing beating) are very interesting. In
Brazil we
> > studied Smooth-billed Anis preying on butterflies on a river beach. Anis
are
> > in the cuckoo family (like Roadrunners). A group of Anis specialized on
> > butterflies during the whole mid-day period when butterflies were
puddling on
> > the beach. Anis ate butterflies whole (no wing-beating off for them).
They
> > also ate bees, occasionally even when being obviously stung. The
butterflies
> > were mostly Pierids and Purplewings (presumably not distasteful). The
Pierids
> > were clustered first in a group of about 700, and the Anis attacked the
> > cluster repeatedly until, over the course of a week there was no more
> > cluster. Then they went after the solo Purplewings which were also very
> > abundant..
> >
> > The citation to our paper is
> >
> > Burger J and Gochfeld M. Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) predation
on
> > butterflies inj Mato Grosso, Brazil: risk decreases with increased group
> > size. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 49:482-492 (2001).
> >
> > Mike Gochfeld
>
> Here in southern California, one or more roadrunners (probably the latter)
will
> often take white-lined sphinx moths (Hyles lineata), and presumably other
> sphingids, in similar fashion. One such account was the subject of a
personal
> communication from Sandy Russell (then a resident of Malibu, California).
She had
> observed a comparitively tame roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)
consuming
> several in a very short time. Later she noticed a large quantity of
wings, some
> quite thoroughly thrashed, and other body parts on the porch under her
light array
> (mercury vapor and black light) on going outdoors in the morning. One
day, she
> decided to count the parts -- there were parts of some 300 moths!.
>
> An arboreal species, the yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), at
least
> members of the population occupying the Audubon preserve near Lake
Isabella, in
> Kern County, California, and vicinity, have been observed feeding
caterpillars of
> the big poplar sphinx (Pachysphinx occidentalis) to their nestlings.
Since there
> are at least two other large sphingids in the area, these are probably
taken as
> well. Grasshoppers are also taken, as are scorpions, lizards, sankes and
> nestlings of other bird species.
>
> I hope this helps.
>
> Pierre A Plauzoles
> sphinxangelorum at bigfoot.com
>
>
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> <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
> <html>
> Michael Gochfeld wrote:
> <blockquote TYPE=CITE>The Roadrunner observations of predation on Painted
> Lady (wings beaten off)
> <br>and Pipevine Swallowtail (no wing beating) are very interesting.
> In Brazil we
> <br>studied Smooth-billed Anis preying on butterflies on a river beach.
> Anis are
> <br>in the cuckoo family (like Roadrunners). A group of Anis
specialized
> on
> <br>butterflies during the whole mid-day period when butterflies were
puddling
> on
> <br>the beach. Anis ate butterflies whole (no wing-beating off for
> them). They
> <br>also ate bees, occasionally even when being obviously stung.
> The butterflies
> <br>were mostly Pierids and Purplewings (presumably not
distasteful).
> The Pierids
> <br>were clustered first in a group of about 700, and the Anis attacked
> the
> <br>cluster repeatedly until, over the course of a week there was no more
> <br>cluster. Then they went after the solo Purplewings which were
> also very
> <br>abundant..
> <p>The citation to our paper is
> <p>Burger J and Gochfeld M. Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani)
predation
> on
> <br>butterflies inj Mato Grosso, Brazil: risk decreases with increased
> group
> <br>size. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 49:482-492
(2001).
> <p>Mike Gochfeld</blockquote>
> Here in southern California, one or more roadrunners (probably the latter)
> will often take white-lined sphinx moths (<i>Hyles lineata</i>), and
presumably
> other sphingids, in similar fashion. One such account was the
subject
> of a personal communication from Sandy Russell (then a resident of Malibu,
> California). She had observed a comparitively tame roadrunner
(<i>Geococcyx
> californianus</i>) consuming several in a very short time. Later
> she noticed a large quantity of wings, some quite thoroughly thrashed,
> and other body parts on the porch under her light array (mercury vapor
> and black light) on going outdoors in the morning. One day, she
decided
> to count the parts -- there were parts of some 300 moths!.
> <p>An arboreal species, the yellow-billed cuckoo (<i>Coccyzus
americanus</i>),
> at least members of the population occupying the Audubon preserve near
> Lake Isabella, in Kern County, California, and vicinity, have been
observed
> feeding caterpillars of the big poplar sphinx (<i>Pachysphinx
occidentalis</i>)
> to their nestlings. Since there are at least two other large
sphingids
> in the area, these are probably taken as well. Grasshoppers are also
> taken, as are scorpions, lizards, sankes and nestlings of other bird
species.
> <p>I hope this helps.
> <p>Pierre A Plauzoles
> <br>sphinxangelorum at bigfoot.com
> <br> </html>
>
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