Diet composition of wild columbiform birds: next-generation sequencing of plant and metazoan DNA in faecal samples

Abstract

Accurate knowledge of a species’ diets is fundamental to understand their ecological requirements. Next-generation sequencing technology has become a powerful and non-invasive tool for diet reconstruction through DNA metabarcoding. Here, we applied those methods on faecal samples of Common Woodpigeons Columba palumbus, European Turtle Doves Streptopelia turtur, and Stock Doves C. oenas to investigate their dietary composition. By applying primer pairs targeting both the ITS2 region of plant nuclear DNA and the mitochondrial COI region of metazoan DNA, we provide a complete picture of the food ingested and estimate the dietary overlap between the columbiform species during the breeding season. Animal DNA was present very rarely, and a diverse range of plants from the class Spermatopsida dominated the diet, with Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae as the most frequently represented families. Generally, we detected a variability between species but also amongst individual samples. Plant species already known from previous studies, mainly visual analyses, could be confirmed for our individuals sampled in Germany and the Netherlands. Our molecular approach revealed new plant taxa, e.g. plants of the families Malvaceae for Woodpigeons, Lythraceae for Turtle Doves, and Pinaceae for Stock Doves, not found in previous studies using visual analyses. Although most of the plant species observed were of wild origin, the majority of cultivated plants found were present in higher frequencies of occurrence, suggesting that cultivated food items likely constitute an important part of the diet of the studied species. For Turtle Doves, a comparison with previous studies suggested regional differences, and that food items (historically) considered as important part of their diet, such as Fumitory Fumaria sp. and Chickweed Stellaria media, were missing in our samples. This indicates that regional variations as well as historic and current data on diet should be considered to plan tailored seed mixtures, which are currently proposed as an important management measure for conservation of the rapidly declining Turtle Dove.

New distribution and breeding location of the Stock Dove Columba oenas in Algeria

“…Stock Doves are primarily granivorous species, feeding mainly on the seeds of cereals and grasses, flower buds, young green shoots, etc., on the ground in open environments according to the seasons, and they are also interested in the lost portions of the harvests. Previous studies have discussed this information and how it can be consumed by many species of the Araliaceae family, including Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Brassicaceae, Amaranthaceae, Fabaceae, and others (Murton et al 1965, Möckel 1988, Schumm et al 2023. Additionally, certain insects, including Cecidomyiidae larvae and earthworm cocoons, can be consumed (Schumm et al 2023).…”

“…Previous studies have discussed this information and how it can be consumed by many species of the Araliaceae family, including Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Brassicaceae, Amaranthaceae, Fabaceae, and others (Murton et al 1965, Möckel 1988, Schumm et al 2023. Additionally, certain insects, including Cecidomyiidae larvae and earthworm cocoons, can be consumed (Schumm et al 2023). This is particularly true during the feeding period of the young or even during the critical period when plant-based food resources are scarce, as is the case with many birds, including the House Bunting (Chedad 2021, Chedad et al 2021a).…”

Analysis of winter diet in Guizhou golden monkey (Rhinopithecus brelichi) using DNA metabarcoding data

“…Because of its advantages, DNA metabarcoding has been used in dietary studies of a variety of animals, including sharks (Olin et al, 2023), Lutra lutra (Drake et al, 2023), birds (Schumm et al, 2023) and others. Accordingly, DNA metabarcoding of faecal samples has been used to characterize the plant diet of primates.…”