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- Title
Notes on the diet of helmeted guineafowl Numida meleagris on deciduous fruit farms in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
- Authors
Little, R.M.; Perrings, J.S.A.; Crowe, T.M.; Witt, A.B.R.
- Abstract
The crop contents of 24 helmeted guineafowl Numida meleagris were collected from six deciduous fruit farms in the Elgin District, Western Cape Province, South Africa, from February 1994 to January 1995. The seasonal pattern of food types eaten and the mean crop volume of 19.7 ml are similar to those recorded for helmeted guineafowl elsewhere, in natural habitats. Of the 24 crops collected, 13 contained invertebrates. Seed bugs (Family: Lygaeidae), tenebrionid larvae (Family: Tenebrionidae) and grasshoppers (Family: Acrididae) were common in the crops during autumn, while weevils (Family: Curculionidae), nitidulids (Family: Nitidulidae) and noctuid larvae (Family: Noctuidae) were commonest in crops collected during summer. The presence of fruits in the diet, namely apples and grapes, during late summer and early autumn, and late autumn and early winter, respectively, is of concern. However, the possibility of these fruits, particularly the apples, being eaten from fallen fruit is not refuted.
- Subjects
DIET; NUMIDA meleagris
- Publication
South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 1995, Vol 25, Issue 4, p144
- ISSN
0379-4369
- Publication type
Article