Prooikeuze van Grauwe Kiekendieven. Oost-Groningen 1994

In 1994 a thorough investigation was made into the prey selection of Montagu’s Harrier in the eastem part of the province of Groningen, the Netherlands. In 1994 this area held 25 breeding pairs. A total of 397 prey items was found. The exact species of 53% of these could be determined. The list of prey species (figure 2) is made up of direct observations (n=54), pellets(n=250), and prey remains (n=100). We think that this mixture gives a good picture of prey selection for 1994. In 1992 and 1993 the common vole Microtis arvalis made up 78% of prey remainsfound; in 1994 only 36%. This led to a very low breeding success rate for the Montagu’s Harriers. The food shortage forced the breeding pairs to catch remarkable prey (table 1). Lapwing, Golden Plover and Swallow cannot possibly be termed regular food for Montagu’s Harriers. Most passerine prey consisted of Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail and Starling. A strikingly large number of eggs was found (n=26), mostly Pheasants’.