Time use, foraging behavior and microhabitat use in a temporary guild of spring-staging dabbling ducks (Anas spp.)

Dabbling ducks were studied on a eutrophic mid-flyway staging site in spring. Six species made up a temporary guild, in order of decreasing abundance they were: Teal (Anas crecca), Shoveler (A. clypeata), Mallard (A. platyrhynchos), Wigeon (A. penelope), Pintail (A. acuta), and Garganey (A. querquedula). Species richness and total abundance peaked around 20 April, whereas guild evenness was highest after the staging peak. Time use during the staging peak differed between the sexes in Mallard, but not in the other species. Mallard spent the least time foraging, whereas Shoveler and Teal foraged the most. Foraging behavior differed among species; i.e. Wigeon was mainly on land, Shoveler mainly fed from the water surface, whilst Mallard and Teal were more generalist. For the guild as a whole, shallow inshore areas were overused compared to offshore habitats. Microhabitat use of foraging birds differed among species; Pintail and Shoveler mainly fed in the offshore end of the habitat gradient, whereas Teal, Garganey, female Mallard, and especially Wigeon used shallow microhabitats. Teal and female Mallard had the highest overlap in microhabitat use, Shoveler and Wigeon had the least. Abundance of invertebrate prey was low during the staging peak, but increased sharply thereafter. This study indicates that eutrophic mid-flyway sites may offer less food to staging birds than do breeding lakes to which many of them are headed.