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Klaus Robin

Klappergrasmücke Sylvia curruca klopft Früchte des Faulbaums Frangula alnus weich.

2021

118

188–192

Key words
(von 1994 bis 2006 vergeben)

Nahrung, Nahrungsangebot, Verhaltensablauf, Frugivorie, Früchte

Schlagwort_Vogelart
(wissenschaftlich)

Sylvia curruca

Schlagwort_Vogelart
(deutsch)

Klappergrasmücke

Kaltbrunner Riet, St. Gallen, Schweiz

deutsch

Kurzbeitrag

Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca soft-knocks fruits of Glossy Buckthorn Frangula alnus. – At the periphery of the Kaltbrunn marshland (Kaltbrunner Riet; canton of St. Gallen), a Lesser White­throat was observed gathering ripe fruits of Glossy Buckthorn Frangula alnus. The bird was not able to swallow the fruits as a whole, because the diameter of the fruit (8.3–8.6 mm) was too large compared with the diameter of the bird’s throat (5 mm). Unexpectedly, the bird did not disjoint the fruit but hit it repeatedly on a small branch until it bursted. Treated like that, the fruit’s form changed from a bullet to an ellipsoid. The bird could now successfully swallow this ellipsoid, albeit with some effort. The whole process was documented with photos three times. This behaviour is common in several European insectivorous birds, for example in Kingfishers, Bee-eaters or Rollers, but has apparently not yet been described in Sylvidae. Frugivory and the dispersal of the seeds of the Glossy Buckthorn by birds is important for the population and dispersal of this plant species, especially in North America, where it is an invasive neophyte.