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Seasonal variation in the diet of Spoonbill chicks in the Wadden Sea: a stable isotopes approach

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Abstract

We used stable isotope tracers in the growing primary feathers of Eurasian Spoonbill chicks (Platalea leucorodia leucorodia) to study seasonal variation in their diet on one of the Frisian islands, Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands. Using growing individual primaries as natural samplers over time, samples were taken along the length of primary feathers to estimate both within- and between-individual variation in diet. Absolute isotopic ratios of feather material ranged from −26.2 to −14.7 ‰ for carbon (δ13C) and from 13.0 to 18.7 ‰ for nitrogen (δ15N). The variation in δ13C values suggests the use of a variety of feeding habitats, ranging from freshwater to marine. Across the breeding season, there was a shift from predominantly freshwater prey early on to a more marine diet later in the season. Surprisingly, this shift did not occur within the growth trajectory of early born chicks which instead showed the opposite, but it did occur within individual chicks born later in the season. Stable isotope Bayesian mixing-model (SIAR) outcomes demonstrated that the freshwater/brackish prey had the highest isotopic contribution “(51 %; 95 % confidence interval 39–63 %) to the diet early in the breeding season, whereas marine prey contributed most (78 %; 66–89 %) to the diet later. That chicks fed with either freshwater or marine food items had similar body condition indices suggests that the eating of marine prey did not come at a major cost for growing Spoonbill chicks.

Zusammenfassung

Jahreszeitliche Unterschiede in der Nahrungszusammensetzung von Löfflerküken im Wattenmeer: eine Analyse stabiler Isotope

Anhand der Signaturen stabiler Isotope in wachsenden Handschwingen von Löfflerküken (Platalea leucorodia leucorodia) auf Schiermonnikoog, einer der Westfriesischen Inseln (Niederlande), wurden jahreszeitliche Unterschiede in deren Nahrungszusammensetzung untersucht. Da die einzelnen wachsenden Federn praktisch natürliche Zeitreihen darstellen, nahmen wir Proben über die ganze Länge der Handschwingen, um die Variation in der Nahrungszusammensetzung sowohl bezogen auf einzelne Individuen als auch auf die Unterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Tieren abzuschätzen. Die absoluten Isotopenverhältnisse des Federmaterials lagen zwischen −26.2 ‰ und −14.7 ‰ für Kohlenstoff (δ13C) beziehungsweise zwischen 13.0 und 18.7 ‰ für Stickstoff (δ15N). Die Variation der δ13C-Werte deutet darauf hin, dass zur Nahrungssuche eine Vielzahl von Habitaten genutzt werden, die von Süßwasserhabitaten bis zu marinen Lebensräumen reichen. Im Verlauf der Brutsaison kam es zu einer Verschiebung von überwiegend im Süßwasser lebender Beute zu Beginn zu einem stärker marin geprägten Nahrungsspektrum gegen Ende der Brutzeit. Überraschenderweise ereignete sich diese Verschiebung nicht während der Wachstumsphase früh geschlüpfter Küken, bei denen stattdessen das Gegenteil zu beobachten war, sondern zeigte sich bei einzelnen Küken, welche zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt schlüpften. Die Ergebnisse der Bayes’schen Mischmodelle stabiler Isotope (SIAR) zeigten, dass Beute aus Süß- und Brackwasserhabitaten am Anfang der Brutsaison den größten Teil zur Isotopenzusammensetzung beitrug (51 %; 95 %-Konfidenzintervall: 39–63 %), wohingegen später marine Beutetiere den höchsten Anteil am Nahrungsspektrum ausmachten (78 %; 66–89 %). Dass Küken, die mit Süßwassertieren gefüttert wurden, ähnliche Konditionsindizes besaßen wie Küken, die marine Nahrung bekommen hatten, weist darauf hin, dass der Verzehr mariner Beutetiere für wachsende Löfflerküken keinen großen Nachteil darstellt.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Jort Ossenbaar for assistance during the stable isotope analysis, to Petra de Goeij and many others for their help in the field, to Suzanne Bakker for prey isotope analysis and to Estefania Velilla Perdomo, Rebecca Reurslag and Kees Camphuysen for the analysis of regurgitates. This study was financially supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-ALW grant nr 81701012, awarded to T.P.), by the Waddenfonds (Metawad and Waddensleutels projects), Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, le Parc National du Banc d’Arguin (PNBA), la Fondation Internationale du Banc d’Arguin (FIBA), the University of Groningen, the NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. Our study complied with all the Dutch regulations on animal care and was carried out under licence of the Animal Experimental Committee of the University of Groningen (licence DEC-4752D). We are grateful for the constructive help by anonymous reviewers. Dick Visser made the final drawings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700 CC, Groningen, The Netherlands

    El-Hacen Mohamed El-Hacen, Theunis Piersma, Jeltje Jouta & Tamar Lok

  2. Parc National du Banc d’Arguin (PNBA), Avenue Gamal Abdel Nasser, B.P. 5355, Nouakchott, Mauritania

    El-Hacen Mohamed El-Hacen

  3. Department of Marine Ecology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands

    Theunis Piersma, Jeltje Jouta & Tamar Lok

  4. Werkgroep Lepelaar, Knuppeldam 4, 9166 NZ, Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands

    Otto Overdijk

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  1. El-Hacen Mohamed El-Hacen
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Correspondence to El-Hacen Mohamed El-Hacen.

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El-Hacen, EH.M., Piersma, T., Jouta, J. et al. Seasonal variation in the diet of Spoonbill chicks in the Wadden Sea: a stable isotopes approach. J Ornithol 155, 611–619 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1043-y

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