A Bat Hawk Macheiramphus alcinus pair preyed primarily on bats and birds that forage in clutter-edge and open-air habitat groups

dc.contributor.authorMalaN, G.
dc.contributor.authorHarris, E.
dc.contributor.authorHarris, T.
dc.contributor.authorMonadjem, Ara
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-16T07:32:03Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractThis study aimed to analyse the diet of a pair of Bat Hawks Macheiramphus alcinus, based on regurgitated pellets, and the associated habitat-foraging groups that the prey species belonged to. A total of 908 regurgitated pellets were collected from underneath one nest tree in north-eastern South Africa, over a 24-month period. A total of 26 prey species were identified, of which 17 comprised bats and nine were birds. Seven prey species qualified as common in the diet (≥11 individuals): Pipistrellus hesperidus, Tadarida aegyptiaca, Scotophilus dinganii, Zosterops virens, Chaerephon pumilus, Afronycteris nana and Laephotis capensis. Most prey individuals were clutter-edge foragers: 41 individuals (67%) were birds, and 181 (42%) were bats. The Bat Hawks therefore foraged predominantly adjacent to vegetation. Future studies should examine the environmental factors that drive the abundance of insects in these habitats and the foraging techniques that birds and bats employ to prey upon them, to ultimately increase our understanding of the foraging framework that flying Bat Hawks exploit when hunting these flying animals.en_US
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Instituteen_US
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomologyen_US
dc.description.embargo2023-11-15
dc.description.librarianhj2023en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Bat Hawk fieldwork was supported by CityLab, Eloptro (Pty) Ltd, HL&L Timber, Hunt Leauchars & Hepburn Holdings Ltd, Jacob’s Draadwerke, Lotzaba Forests, Memortech Photo (Pty) Ltd, Panasonic, SA Phillips, Sage Life Ltd and Westfalia Fruit Estate.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tafz20en_US
dc.identifier.citationG. Malan, E. Harris, T. Harris & A. Monadjem (2022) A Bat Hawk Macheiramphus alcinus pair preyed primarily on bats and birds that forage in clutter-edge and open-air habitat groups, African Zoology, 57:3, 165-169, DOI: 10.1080/15627020.2022.2110386.en_US
dc.identifier.issn1562-7020 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2224-073X (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1080/15627020.2022.2110386
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/90131
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherNISC (Pty) Ltd and Informa UK Limited (trading as Taylor & Francis Group)en_US
dc.rights© Zoological Society of Southern Africa. This is an electronic version of an article published in African Zoology, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 165-169, 2022. doi : 10.1080/15627020.2022.2110386. African Zoology is available online at : https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tafz20.en_US
dc.subjectDieten_US
dc.subjectForaging habiten_US
dc.subjectForest edgeen_US
dc.subjectObligate predatoren_US
dc.subjectOpen-air forageren_US
dc.subjectPrey communityen_US
dc.subjectSpecies richnessen_US
dc.subjectBat hawk (Macheiramphus alcinus)en_US
dc.titleA Bat Hawk Macheiramphus alcinus pair preyed primarily on bats and birds that forage in clutter-edge and open-air habitat groupsen_US
dc.typePostprint Articleen_US

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