Resource utilization by desert quail: time and energy, food and water
Time-energy budgets (TEB) of Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) were compiled during two summers in the Colorado Desert of California. Quail spent 6.77 h/d foraging, 6.2 h/d inactive during daylight hours, and 11.02 h/d inactive at night. Field metabolic rate (FMR) calculated from this activity budget was 81.8 kJ/d. Of this, 47.3 kJ/d was expended during foraging, 12.6 kJ/d in daytime inactivity, and 20.4 kJ/d in nighttime inactivity. Despite the extremely hot thermal environment (maximum ambient temperature approx. =45/sup 0/C), there was no energy cost above resting levels for thermoregulation. FMR was also measured simultaneously with doubly labeled water (DLW), and averaged 90.8 kJ/d. The FMR of C. gambelii was only 40% of that predicted for a bird of its body mass. Energy assimilation efficiency, measured in laboratory feeding experiments with a mixed seed and arthropod diet, was 60.3%. An individual quail in the field thus required 150.3 kJ/d in its diet, representing a dry matter intake of 8.1 g/d. It was calculated that over the course of a year, a population of Gambel's Quail consumes seeds with a total energy content approx. =15% as great as that in seeds consumed by a population of desert rodents or harvester ants in the same area. Gambel's Quail thus may be important factors in the competition for resources among desert granivores, particularly because they can eat one of their competitors (harvester ants). 44 references, 2 figures, 7 tables.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00012
- OSTI ID:
- 7118527
- Journal Information:
- Ecology (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Journal Name: Ecology (Engl. Transl.); (United States) Vol. 66:2; ISSN ECGYA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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