The Foraging Strategies of Birds

• Successful foraging involves specialist machinery AND specialised behaviour patterns • Development of both allows birds to use niches exclusively & minimises competition with other species

Skimming by skimmers (Rynchops spp.) • Detects prey through touch • Upper mandible snaps shut when fish detected • Instantaneous response

Used by many birds of prey

• Sawbill (Mergus spp.) ducks pursue fish under water • Serrated edges of bill allow slippery fish to be caught

Foraging technique for all of the Pelecaniformes

Hunting technique of Ciconiiformes

Easily the most metal form of hunting out there Flat rock that is used to fragment bones • This Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) drops whole skeletons • Eighty five per cent of its diet is bone