Importance of millipedes (Diplopoda) in the autumn-winter diet of Scolopax rusticola

Abstract

Authors examined the autumn-winter diet of the woodcock Scolopax rusticola from 407 gizzard samples originating from Crimea and Italy, resulting in a high number of millipedes (Diplopoda) in all the samples; this prey item was particularly important in terms of weight percentage. The authors consider that calcium, highly present in millipedes, should be an important source for the woodcocks’ metabolism during the autumn-winter seasons.

Keywords

• woodcock
• gizzard content
• percentage of prey
• percentage of biomass
• importance of calcium
• wader food