Mustafa Şeniz, Panter Connor T, Vaughan-Hirsch Laura, White Rachel L, Rott Anja
School of Applied Sciences University of Brighton Brighton UK.
School of Geography University of Nottingham Nottingham UK.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Apr 11;15(4):e71278. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71278. eCollection 2025 Apr.
Understanding a species' diet is crucial for assessing its ecology and can indicate the success of reintroduction efforts. We explored dietary composition and compared pellet morphology and supplementary prey proportions between two white stork () groups to assess reintroduction effectiveness. White stork groups consisted of released individuals that were free flying (i.e., "wild group") and those kept within a confined enclosure ("captive group"). A total of 23 white stork pellets were collected during the 2023 breeding season. Wild group pellets were significantly heavier ( = 12.7 ± 9.2 g [SD]) than captive group pellets ( = 5.2 ± 2.1 g). As expected, all captive group pellets contained supplementary prey, accounting for 88.4% ± 26.1% of pellet biomass, whereas 73.3% of wild group pellets contained supplementary prey, comprising 52.9% ± 36.3% of pellet biomass. The wild group predominantly foraged on beetles (Coleoptera) and earthworms (Clitellata). Our results represent the first quantitative dietary assessment of reintroduced white storks in southern England. Similarities between our data and that of wild white stork diets from elsewhere in their range suggest successful post-release acclimatisation at Knepp Estate.
了解一个物种的饮食对于评估其生态至关重要，并且可以表明重新引入工作的成效。我们探究了饮食组成，并比较了两个白鹳（）群体之间的粪便形态和补充猎物比例，以评估重新引入的有效性。白鹳群体包括自由飞行的放归个体（即“野生群体”）和饲养在封闭围栏内的个体（“圈养群体”）。在2023年繁殖季节共收集了23份白鹳粪便。野生群体的粪便明显比圈养群体的粪便重（=12.7±9.2克[标准差]）（=5.2±2.1克）。正如预期的那样，所有圈养群体的粪便都含有补充猎物，占粪便生物量的88.4%±26.1%，而73.3%的野生群体粪便含有补充猎物，占粪便生物量的52.9%±36.3%。野生群体主要捕食甲虫（鞘翅目）和蚯蚓（环带纲）。我们的结果代表了对英格兰南部重新引入的白鹳的首次定量饮食评估。我们的数据与该物种在其他分布范围内野生白鹳饮食的数据相似，这表明在克内普庄园放归后白鹳成功适应了环境。
