Spring diet and energy intake of whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) at the Yellow River National Wetland in Baotou, China.

ABSTRACT: The energy supply of food available at stopover sites plays an important role in the life cycle of migratory birds. The Yellow River National Wetland in Baotou, China, is an essential migration station and a source of energy for migratory birds as it is located at an important intersection between East Asian/Australian and Central Asian flyways. From February to may 2020, we measured diet composition and energy content of whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) by fecal micro-tissue analysis to understand their use of the stopover site and inform conservation. The following results were obtained: (1) whooper swans mainly fed on nine species of plants belonging to four families, including corn (Zea mays), reeds (Phragmites australis), and Suaeda (Suaeda glauca), which is related to the availability o

SUBMITTER: Liu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8884505 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature