FEEDING SUCCESSION AND ZONATION OF AQUATIC BIRDS AT FALSE BAY, LAKE ST LUCIA

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Whitfield, A. K. & Cyrus, D. P. 1978. Feeding succession and zonation of aquatic birds at False Bay, Lake St Lucia. Ostrich 49:8-15. Seasonal fluctuations in water levels at Lake St Lucia resulted in the inundation of depressions adjacent to the lake. Backwaters formed and were immediately colonized by aquatic invertebrates and fishes. Piscivorous birds dominated the early stages of the backwater feeding aggregations but with the decrease in water levels due to evaporation, crustacean and mollusc feeding birds became abundant. Both piscivorous and invertebrate-feeding wading birds formed a series of overlapping zones parallel to the shoreline.