Spring diet of pied currawongs at Imbota Nature Reserve, Armidale, New South Wales

The diet of Pied Currawongs 'Strepera graculina' in eucalypt woodland near Armidale, New South Wales, was studied by analysis of stomach contents of 21 birds collected in October-December 2002. Adult pairs, and replacement currawongs in those territories. were collected before they had active nests. The currawongs' diet consisted predominantly of arthropods (97% by number): mainly beetles (36% by number, 95% of stomachs), large ants (48% by number, 62% cf stomachs) and dragonflies (7% by number, 14% of stomachs), with lesser quantities of other arthropods and some fruit and leaf material (n = 188 food items). No vertebrates or bird eggshell were found in the stomachs. Incidental observations were made of currawongs feeding on a small freeflying bird, a microchiropteran bat, and a tree-frog.