2013/04/01 by Loı̈c Marion · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Fish Ecology and Management Studies #Crustacean biology and ecology #Biological Control of Invasive Species
paper · doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2013.05.001
openalex publication_date 2013/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
This paper presents the results of a 14-year study about the diet of the Sacred ibis in its main introduction area in France and its impact on native bird species, and compares the data to literature from its native area. During an initial period (1993-2004), the diet was essentially composed of invertebrates such as common aquatic insects (correlated with flooding) or Eristalis larvae picked from the mud (a vacant food niche in France), while scraps of meat taken from rubbish dumps were minor. These traditional preys taken from the same ecosystems as in its native area did not result in an exponential increase of the number of breeding Sacred ibises. Invasive Red swamp crayfish recently replaced other foods in its diet with a resulting sharp increase in breeding pair numbers (R(2)=0.48). As in other parts of the world, vertebrates constituted very accidental preys, and no bird species were really threatened by such predation. Conversely, the Sacred ibis can have a positive effect as a predator of invasive crayfish. Adding the species to the DAISIE list of the 100 most invasive alien species in Europe therefore appears debatable.