Diet of nestling Spectacled Tyrants (Hymenops perspicillatus) in the southeast Pampas Region, Argentina

PRETELLI M.; CARDONI D.; ISACCH J.P.

WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY

WILSON ORNITHOLOGICAL SOC

Año: 2014 vol. 126 p. 754 - 759

1559-4491

We studied the diet of nestling Spectacled Tyrants (Hymenops perspicillatus) in the southeast Pampas region, Argentina. From November 2012 to January 2013 we determined the diet by recognizing items prey using video footage when parents feed their chicks. We surveyed 18 nests, achieving 54 hr of recording time. We identified a total of 125 prey items, representing 33 different taxa, grouped into four classes: Insecta, Arachnida, Chilopoda, and Amphibia. Insects accounted for 94% of total number of preys. The most frequent prey were orthopterans (Caelifera), unidentified lepidopteran larvae, and odonats (Zygoptera). Lepidopterans were numerically the most important prey item in November, odonats in December, and orthopterans in January. Diet of nestling was generalist in terms of the consumption of insects, and the changes in the prey consumption along the breeding season support an opportunistic feeding behavior by Spectacled Tyrant.