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Food selection and the timing of breeding of the Blue‐and‐White Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca in Venezuela
Author(s) -
Turner Angela K.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-919x.1983.tb03141.x
Subject(s) - predation , seasonal breeder , nest (protein structural motif) , biology , abundance (ecology) , dry season , white (mutation) , predator , ecology , wet season , selection (genetic algorithm) , biochemistry , artificial intelligence , computer science , gene
The breeding biology of the Blue‐and‐White Swallow in Mérida, Venezuela, was studied in relation to prey availability. Breeding occurred at the end of the dry season and beginning of the wet season. The diet consisted mainly of Hymenoptera but Ephemeroptera, Coleoptera and Diptera were also important prey. Wet or cloudy weather was associated with low feeding rates at the nest and with low prey abundance. The adults spent more time gliding and used more aerial feeding stations in cloudy weather. Food abundance was highest in the wet season. Breeding thus occurs at a time when prey availability is increasing but the wet season, with its high probability of bad weather occurring, tends to be avoided.