Food Habit of Hazel Grouse in Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract

The food habits of Hazel Grouses Bonasa bonasia were analyzed based on crop contents of 237 birds shot from early October to late January in 1994/95 and 1995/96 and from February to September 1996 in Hokkaido, Japan. Crop contents were greater in December and January than in October and November. Considerable seasonal variation in major food items was observed: buds of deciduous broad-leaved trees from November to February; leaves of herbaceous plants during the snow-free season; seeds during June and July, and fruits from October to January. In addition to these food items, arthropods were eaten frequently, although in small amounts, in June and July. Although the food habits of this species are basically similar in both Europe and Hokkaido, in Hokkaido the buds of a wider range of tree species were eaten in winter and the fruits of lianas such as Vitis coignetiae and Actinidia arguta were important foods during autumn and winter in Hokkaido.