Diet and Foraging

The Vermilion Cardinal forages mainly on fruits and seeds, but also feeds on insects (54 Bosque, C. (1984). Structure and diversity of arid zone bird communities in Venezuela. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Close , 55 Poulin, B., G. Lefebvre and R. McNeil (1994) Diets of land birds from northeastern Venezuela. Condor 96: 354-367. Close , 56 Poulin, B., Lefebvre, G. and McNeil, R. (1994). Characteristics of feeding guilds and variation in diets of bird species of three adjacent tropical sites. Biotropica. 26(2): 187-197. Close )

Microhabitat for Foraging

The Vermilion Cardinal forages in dense lower and medium strata of desert scrubs. It is also frequently observed foraging for seeds and insects on the ground (A. Rodríguez-Ferraro, unpublished data). In Colombia, the Vermilion Cardinal is observed coming to feeders and feeding on corn and other seeds (Ripma, eBird).

Food Capture and Consumption

Single individuals or pairs actively search for food, but occasionally loose groups of 3–5 individuals forage together (2 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Its strong bill is used to cut or crush fruits or pods and to extract the seeds (A. Rodríguez-Ferraro, unpublished data). When foraging on cardon (Stenocereus griseus) fruits, the Vermilion Cardinal often takes a large amount of pulp with its beaks and flies away from the cactus to ingest it (57 Silvius, K. M. (1995). Avian consumers of Cardon fruits (Stenocereus griseus: Cactacea) on Margarita Island, Venezuela. Biotropica 27(1):96-105. Close ). During a single observation, a Vermilion Cardinal spent 2 minutes foraging on cardon fruits, and took five bites during that period (57 Silvius, K. M. (1995). Avian consumers of Cardon fruits (Stenocereus griseus: Cactacea) on Margarita Island, Venezuela. Biotropica 27(1):96-105. Close ). Fruits of melon cactus (Melocactus curvispinus) are eaten with several bites, while the bird perches atop the cactus or pulls out the whole fruit from it and eats it on the ground; in both cases, fruit skin is usually discarded and not ingested (A. Rodríguez-Ferraro, unpublished data).

Major Food Items

Based on 80 emetic samples, the diet of the Vermilion Cardinal includes fruits or seeds of Bromelia pinguin (Bromeliacea), Bursera karsteniana (Burseraceae), Croton rhamnifolius (Euphorbiaceae), Doyerea emetocathartica (Cucurbitaceae), Jaquinia revoluta (Primulaceae), Lycium nodosum (Solanaceae), Solanum agrarium (Solanaceae), Solanum gardneri (Solanaceae), Zanthoxylum fagara (Rutacea), Sida acuta (Malvaceae), Melocactus curvispinus (Cactaceae), Pilosocereus moritzianus (Cactaceae), and Erythroxilum sp. (Erythroxilaceae) (55 Poulin, B., G. Lefebvre and R. McNeil (1994) Diets of land birds from northeastern Venezuela. Condor 96: 354-367. Close ). Invertebrate remains belonging to six taxa were also found in the emetic samples: Ixodidadae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera (ants, winged ants, wasps), and insect larvae (55 Poulin, B., G. Lefebvre and R. McNeil (1994) Diets of land birds from northeastern Venezuela. Condor 96: 354-367. Close ).

Field observations indicate that bromelias (Bromelia pinguin and B. humilis) and cacti fruits are an important component of the Vermilion Cardinals' diet (P. A. Millán, personal communication). Cardinals are frequently observed foraging on melon cactus fruits (Melocatus curvispinus)(A. Rodríguez-Ferraro, unpublished data), and also consume fruits of Opuntia cacti (V. Sanz, personal communication). During a study focusing on avian consumers of cardon (Stenocereus griseus), cardinals were observed foraging on these fruits, ingesting both pulp and seeds (57 Silvius, K. M. (1995). Avian consumers of Cardon fruits (Stenocereus griseus: Cactacea) on Margarita Island, Venezuela. Biotropica 27(1):96-105. Close ). Experiments in captivity indicated that cardinals ate both pulp and seeds of cardon fruits since most seeds were crushed during digestion, and only a few were defecated whole (57 Silvius, K. M. (1995). Avian consumers of Cardon fruits (Stenocereus griseus: Cactacea) on Margarita Island, Venezuela. Biotropica 27(1):96-105. Close ).

Quantitative Analysis

Out of 80 emetic samples from the Araya Peninsula (Sucre, Venezuela), 84% contained seeds (six species), 83% arthropod remains (six taxa), and 48% fleshy fruits (ten species) (55 Poulin, B., G. Lefebvre and R. McNeil (1994) Diets of land birds from northeastern Venezuela. Condor 96: 354-367. Close ). The diet composition based on field observations conducted during two years in the Paraguaná peninsula (Falcón, Venezuela) included seeds, fruits, flowers, and insects (54 Bosque, C. (1984). Structure and diversity of arid zone bird communities in Venezuela. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Close ).

Food Selection

The proportion of food items in 75 cardinals' emetic samples varied significantly among three adjacent habitats (thorn scrub, thorn woodland, and deciduous forest) in the Araya peninsula (northeastern Venezuela) (56 Poulin, B., Lefebvre, G. and McNeil, R. (1994). Characteristics of feeding guilds and variation in diets of bird species of three adjacent tropical sites. Biotropica. 26(2): 187-197. Close ). Consequently, in thorn scrub, cardinals were classified as frugivores (78.4% of all items were fruits, n = 315), in thorn woodland as frugivore-insectivore (43.8% of items were fruits and 31.3% were arthropod items, n = 48), and in deciduous forest as granivore-insectivores (52.8% of items were seeds and 39.6% were arthropod remains) (56 Poulin, B., Lefebvre, G. and McNeil, R. (1994). Characteristics of feeding guilds and variation in diets of bird species of three adjacent tropical sites. Biotropica. 26(2): 187-197. Close ). Field observations also indicate a variation in diet composition among different types of thorn scrubs in the Paraguaná Peninsula (54 Bosque, C. (1984). Structure and diversity of arid zone bird communities in Venezuela. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Close ). In Stenocereus-dominated scrubs, cardinals fed on fruits (33.9% of total observations), seeds (27.4%), insects (19.4%), and other plant parts (19.3%), whereas the main food item was seeds in thorn scrubs dominated by Prosopis juliflora or by Parkinsonia praecox (82.6% and 70.8% of total observations, respectively).

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Information is needed.