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Taxon-specific prey handling by the loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)

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Abstract

True Shrikes (Laniidae) are sit-and-wait predators that hunt prey from elevated perches and frequently impale them on sharp objects in conspicuous places. During the 2014 breeding season, we followed a pair of Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) through their reproductive cycle and documented over 100 h of their behavior on video. On three occasions, the shrikes were observed hunting grasshoppers and in a sequence of very quick stereotypic behaviors, they eviscerated their prey. The shrike held the grasshopper in its feet and with its sharp beak, penetrated the body between the head and the shield-like pronotum, removed the digestive tract in one pull, and then ingested the prey. The removal of the alimentary tract appears to target the anterior portion, specifically the foregut or crop, along with its associated contents. This particular behavior was observed only when grasshoppers were caught but not with other invertebrates. The whole process lasted ca. 5 (±2.6 SD) s.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Fred E. Lohrer and Dr. Mark A. Deyrup of the Archbold Biological Station, Florida, for their help; Dr’s D. McKenna, University of Memphis, and H. Song, Texas A & M University, also contributed to our entomological understanding of the process. We thank Prof. Piotr Tryjanowski, Sue Har-Shefi, and two anonymous reviewers for improving a previous draft of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ben Gurion University of the Negev - Eilat Campus, P. O. Box 272, 88000, Eilat, Israel

    Reuven Yosef

  2. 7725 Shadow Bend Lane, Arlington, TN, 38002-8051, USA

    Larry E. McPherson

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  1. Reuven Yosef
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  2. Larry E. McPherson
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Correspondence to Reuven Yosef.

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Yosef, R., McPherson, L.E. Taxon-specific prey handling by the loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus). acta ethol 19, 147–150 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-016-0234-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-016-0234-3

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