Abstract
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1.
In each of four replicate experiments we fed three groups of bee-eater chicks for 24 h on different diets: bees, dragonflies, and a mixture of the two.
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2.
Dry weight assimilation efficiency did not differ between treatments and was in the region of 40–50%. Caloric assimilation efficiency was about 60% and did not differ significantly between diets.
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3.
Mean Growth efficiency (wt. gain/intake) was highest in all four replicates in chicks fed on the mixed diet.
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4.
When metabolic requirements are taken into account, growth efficiency on the mixed diet varies less with variation in intake than on the two pure diets.
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5.
The advantage of feeding chicks on a mixed diet may partly explain why parents do not show exclusive preferences for energy-maximising prey types.
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Krebs, J.R., Avery, M.I. Chick growth and prey quality in the European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster). Oecologia 64, 363–368 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379134
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379134