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- Title
Dieetsamestelling van tuinduiwe in die Bloemfonteinse stadsgebied, sentrale Vrystaat.
- Authors
LE ROUX, P. D. S.; KOK, O. B.; BUTLER, H. J. B.
- Abstract
Crop contents of 333 adult feral pigeons (Columba livia) and 49 nestlings collected over a period of a year in the Bloemfontein urban area, central Free State, were investigated. According to the above-mentioned data the diet is dominated by natural vegetation from the immediate vicinity, with small fruit from the endemic stinkwood (Celtis africana) being the most important. Comparatively the contribution of invertebrate prey items, mainly larvae and pupae of the Diptera and Lepidoptera, is negligible. The presence of a significant amount of pigeon's milk can probably be related to the extended breeding season of the birds, while the regular occurrence of inorganic material points to the importance of grit in the physical processing of hard plant parts at a later stage in the gizzard. The crop contents of nestlings imply that cultivated crops such as maize, sunflower and wheat are utilised by adults particularly during the breeding season. Although the pigeons showed a clear preference for maize and the yellow shade of the light spectrum under experimental conditions, the utilisation frequency of specific crops is based more on their relative availability.
- Subjects
BLOEMFONTEIN (South Africa); FREE State (South Africa); SOUTH Africa; BIRD food; BIRD breeding; FERAL pigeons
- Publication
Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie, 2009, Vol 28, Issue 4, p414
- ISSN
0254-3486
- Publication type
Article