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December 20 2024
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The diet of Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica breeding in the Po Delta (NE Italy)
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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The present study provides the first data on the diet of Gull-billed Terns (Gelochelidon nilotica) nesting in the Po Delta. Four hundred and forty-five prey items were found in pellets collected on a colony in a fish farm on June 11, 2018. Pellets contained mostly Invertebrata (403 items), of which the majority were Insecta (50.8%, mainly Orthoptera: 22.7%) and, to a lesser extent, Crustacea (22%, exclusively Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii) and Mollusca (17.8%, mostly Gasteropoda: 16.2%), whereas Vertebrata accounted for only 9.4% (42 items, mostly Amphibia: 8.3%). Gull-billed Terns nesting in the Po Delta follow a diet with a predominance of Insecta, but with significant shares of Crustacea and Mollusca and, to a lesser extent, Amphibia, thus confirming the flexibility of the species in adapting to the prey availability of the foraging area.
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The diet of Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica breeding in the Po Delta (NE Italy). (2024). Rivista Italiana Di Ornitologia. https://doi.org/10.4081/rio.2024.818
Copyright (c) 2024 Roberto G. Valle, Francesco Fava
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