The feeding ecology and digestive tract morphometry of two sympatric tinamous of the high plateau of the bolivian andes

Darwins Nothura (Nothura darwinii) Science Article 1

abstract

We studied the trophic niche breadth and the degree of overlap in the winter diets of two sympatric species of tinamous in the Bolivian Andes, the Ornate Tinamou (Nothoprocta ornata) and the Darwin?s Nothura (Nothura darwinii), by analyzing crop and gizzard contents of birds collected by sport hunters. We also measured the overlap in the winter use of foraging habitats, and the proportion of differences between digestive tract components that could imply distinct assimilation of food resources. The Ornate Tinamou and the Darwin?s Nothura consume a wide variety of food items, especially seeds and monoseminated fruits. The former has a greater niche breadth than the latter, but consumption of food items is species and sex independent, which is confirmed by high interspecific diet overlap.

Alvaro Garitano-Zavala, Jacint Nadal and Pamela Avila, ORNITOLOGIA NEOTROPICAL 14: 173-194, 2003

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