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1 April 2008 Dietary Overlap of Sympatric Diving Ducks During Winter on Northeastern Lake Ontario
Michael L. Schummer, Scott A. Petrie, Robert C. Bailey
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Abstract

Food resources available to diving ducks wintering on the Great Lakes have changed dramatically since the introduction of dreissenid mussels (Dreissena bugensis and D. polymorpha). We investigated the diets of Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), Common Goldeneyes (B. clangula), and Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) during winter, 2002–2004, on northeastern Lake Ontario and determined the levels of dietary overlap. Dietary niche-breadth values were low, and dietary overlap values (prey size and type) were high for all species. Ducks primarily consumed high-quality, energy-dense prey (Amphipoda, Chironomidae), which were abundant. Our results highlighted three patterns: (1) dreissenid mussels constituted 85% of the macroinvertebrate community in Lake Ontario but were consumed in relatively low amounts during winter, (2) foods of high energy-density such as Amphipoda and Chironomidae were likely abundant enough for ducks to selectively feed on them, and (3) some constraint caused ducks to select energy-dense prey instead of the most available items (dreissenid mussels). Although the abundance of prey may have allowed numbers of diving ducks to increase in the past few decades on the Great Lakes, the long-term implications of high levels of dietary overlap among diving ducks is relatively unknown and warrants continued monitoring.

Michael L. Schummer, Scott A. Petrie, and Robert C. Bailey "Dietary Overlap of Sympatric Diving Ducks During Winter on Northeastern Lake Ontario," The Auk 125(2), 425-433, (1 April 2008). https://doi.org/10.1525/auk.2008.06117
Received: 13 June 2006; Accepted: 1 August 2007; Published: 1 April 2008
KEYWORDS
B. clangula
Bucephala albeola
Bufflehead
Clangula hyemalis
common goldeneye
diet
long-tailed duck
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