The contents of 30 stomachs of 3 swift species, and 96 stomachs of 9 swallow species were analyzed. Most of the birds were shot during the breeding season in the semi-arid grasslands of South Africa. The swifts fed mainly on termite alates and minute nemathoceran Diptera, while the swallows preyed mainly upon minute Coleoptera. Flying ants were an important food constituent in the diets of both swifts and swallows.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to Mr D. H. De Swardt and Mr R. J. Nuttall (National Museum at Bloemfontein) for providing material for this analysis, and to Dr W R. J. Dean (Tierberg Karoo Research Centre at Prince Albert) for his constructive comments on earlier draft of this paper and for indicating useful references.
REFERENCES
F. A. Coyle
,
M. H. Greestone
,
A. L. Hutsch
,
C. E. Morgan
1985. Ballooning megalomorphs: estimates of the masses of Sphodros and Ummidia ballooners (Araneae: Atypidae: Ctenizidae). J. Arachnol. 13: 291–296. Google Scholar
C. H. Fry,
S. N. Keith,
E. K. Urban (eds.).
1988. The Birds of Africa. Vol. III. Academic Press, London. Google Scholar
M. H. Greenstone
1990. Meteorological determinants of spider ballooning: the roles of thermals vs. the vertical widespread gradient in becoming airborne. Oecologia 84: 164–168. Google Scholar
S. Keith,
E. K. Urban,
C. H. Fry (eds.).
1992. The Birds of Africa. Vol. IV. Academic Press, London. Google Scholar
O. B. Kok
,
P. H. Hewitt
1990. Bird and mammal predators of the harvest termite Hodotermes mossambicus (Hagen) in semi-arid regions of South Africa. S. Afr. J. Sei. 86: 34–37. Google Scholar
G. L. Maclean
1993. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town. Google Scholar
K. H. Redford
,
J, G. Dorea
1984. The nutritional value of inverebrates with emphasis on ants and termites as food for mammals. J. Zool., 203: 385–395. Google Scholar
C. H. Scholtz,
E. Holm (eds.).
1986. Insects of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban. Google Scholar
D. W. Snow,
C. M. Perrins (eds.).
1998. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Google Scholar
C. A. Van Ee
1988. Stomach contents: European Swallow (Hirundo rustica). Mirafra 5: 27. Google Scholar
E. Van Koersveld
1951. Difficulties in stomach analysis. X Int. Orn. Congr., Uppsala, pp. 592–594. Google Scholar
