‘Vampire birds’: diet metabarcoding reveals that migrating Woodchat Shrikes Lanius senator consume engorged camel ticks in a desert stopover site

Abstract

Data on the diets of Afro-Palearctic migratory birds outside their breeding grounds are scarce, despite the importance of feeding during the migratory journey. Here, we report on anecdotal findings from a study in which we used diet metabarcoding to analyse the composition of faecal samples from three Woodchat Shrikes Lanius senator collected during their spring migration stopover in Morocco. Metabarcoding revealed that the prey items most commonly consumed by the shrikes were camel ticks Hyalomma dromedarii. Additionally, in one sample we detected DNA from dromedary Camelus dromedarius, the presumed host of the ticks. Thus, metabarcoding can reveal novel information on the diet of migrating birds using non-invasive methods, as well as insights into secondary consumption by prey taxa.