Abstract

BO, María Susana; BALADRON, Alejandro V.  and  BIONDI, Laura M.. Trophic ecology of Falconiformes and Strigiformes: time for a synthesis. Hornero [online]. 2007, vol.22, n.2, pp.97-115. ISSN 0073-3407.

Although there is abundant information about food habits of raptors around the world, available data on this topic in Argentina are scarce and biased. The aim of this work is to summarize the current knowledge about the trophic ecology of raptor birds in Argentina. We present a review of the published information on diet, hunting strategy and behaviour, foraging habitat, and some aspects of the trophic relationships among species. Species belonging to the order Strigiformes are the most studied, representing 80% of the published studies, although there are data only for 39% of the species inhabiting the country. Among species belonging to Falconiformes, there are data for 28% of the species. At a regional scale, most studies were concentrated in the phytogeographic provinces Pampeana (36%), Patagónica (24%), and del Monte (13%). Raptors were characterized based on the estimators of trophic niche and grouped according their main prey in three guilds: mammal consumers (37% of the species studied), insect consumers (42%), and bird consumers (21%). Studies on food habits of raptors in Argentina are in an intermediate level of complexity. For future investigations, we emphasize the importance of analyzing data using trophic niche estimators, which would allow the development of comparative studies and a better understanding of the dynamics of raptor assemblages.

Keywords : Argentina; Diet; Falconiformes; Foraging habitat; Phytogeographic regions; Hunting behaviour; Strigiformes; Trophic niche.

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