Biología alimentaria del capuchino de cabeza negra (Lonchura malacca, Estrildidae) en el alto valle del Magdalena, Colombia

Feeding biology of the Tricolored Munia (Lonchura malacca, Estrildidae) in the upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia

Abstract

We studied the feeding biology of the Tricoloured Munia (Lonchura malacca), a species native to Sri Lanka and Southeast India that has established a population in Colombia. We analyzed 25 stomachs of birds captured in February 2007 to determine its trophic spectrum, food item size, and feeding rhythm in the morning. We found that the species is granivorous and its diet included nine vegetable items including seeds of rice (Oryza sativa), Indian grass (Panicum maximum), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and four unidentified species, remains of grass panicles, unidentified vegetable remains, and one non-organic item corresponding to grit. The main diet was represented by rice, unidentified vegetable remains, and Indian grass seeds; the other groups constituted secondary categories of food. Foraging activity in the morning showed an initial increase until 08:00, after which it decreased. Rice was the most important item consumed in terms of mass and frequency of occurrence, due mainly to the great availability of this resource for most of the year in the area; this high offer, added to the dispersal ability of L. malacca, could allow this species to become a pest, affecting this productive system directly