Moorhen and Little Crake feeding on carrion. - M. Ciach. - Berkut. 13 (2). 2004. - P. 300-301.
On January 10, 1999 on the Vistula River in the center of Kraków (S Poland) two adult Moorhens were seen foraging on a dead gull. A similar observation was recorded December 15, 2001 in the Solacki City Park in Poznan (W Poland) when a Moorhen was seen to be foraging on a dead Mallard. This phenomenon may be adaptive in nature. The use of carrion by Moorhens may be related to the more frequent wintering of this species in urban areas of central Europe. On October 11, 2004 near the city of Diyarbakir (37°54’N 40°15’E, SE Turkey) a Little Crake was seen to be foraging on a dead frog. Comparing the size of the frog with the average size of a bird’s body the thorax could have been about 5–7 cm. It is the first record of a Little Crake foraging on carrion and also the first time a vertebrate was seen to be part of the diet of this species. [English].
Key words: Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus, Little Crake, Porzana parva, carrion, foraging.
Address: Dep. of Forest Zoology and Wildlife Management, Agricultural University of Cracow, Faculty of
Forestry, al. 29 Listopada 46, 31 – 425 Cracow, Poland; e-mail: mciach@ar.krakow.pl.