Foraging Behaviour of Sri Lanka Yellow-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus penicillatus) in the Montane Cloud Forests of Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka

Abstract

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Foraging behaviour of Sri Lanka Yellow-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus penicillatus) was studied in the tropical montane cloud forests of Horton Plains national park, situated in the highland plateau of the Nuwara Eliya District at the eastern extremity of the central highlands from September 2015 to April 2017. Line transects and opportunistic observations were used to obtain data. Foraging individuals were observed directly or through a binocular from 0600h to 1800h, on three consecutive days per month. Foraging plant types were identified by using field guides. They flew approximately 50.4 ± 34.2 (Mean ± Standard Deviation) meters per minute in search of food with 1.4 ± 0.7 stops per minute. Maximum hopping (57%) was recorded when the birds moved between foraging sites. Maximum number of foraging observations (95%) were recorded from cloud forest habitat and least number of foraging observations (5%) were recorded from grassland habitats. Observed foraging height was 3.6 ± 2.9m above ground, and distance to canopy above the bird was 0.8 ± 0.6m. Foraging tree height was 4.5 ± 3.1m. Majority of the birds (48%) were feeding within “middle” horizontal position of the trees. P. penicillatus highly utilized (28%) „moderate density foliage cover‟ when foraging. Out of 17 feeding plants observed, Rubus ellipticus was the major feeding plant of P. penicillatus. Exactly 96% of the birds used to forage on top of the leaves. „Gulping‟ was the major food handling technique. Findings of the present study indicated that P. penicillatus utilized plant species of different sizes for foraging and that its preferred foraging habitat is the montane cloud forests.