Diet preference in the House Sparrow Passer domesticus: hooked on millet?

Figures & data

Table 1. Native plant species used in seed selectivity foraging experiment with House Sparrows.

Species	Family	Common Name	Seed mass (mg)
Andropogon gerardii	Poaceae	Big bluestem	3.22
Desmanthus illinoensis	Fabaceae	Illinois bundleflower	5.32
Echinacea pallida	Asteraceae	Pale purple coneflower	5.38
Echinacea purpurea	Asteraceae	Purple coneflower	4.05
Elymus canadensis	Poaceae	Canada wild rye	5.88
Heliopsis helianthoides	Asteraceae	False sunflower	3.52
Panicum virgatum	Poaceae	Switchgrass	0.57
Rudbeckia hirta	Asteraceae	Black-eyed Susan	0.51
Sorghastrum nutans	Poaceae	Indiangrass	2.60
Sporobolus heterolepis	Poaceae	Prairie dropseed	1.88

Figure 1. GUDs and selectivities of House Sparrows in seed selection experiment. (A) GUDs of native seeds when offered alone (GUD Alone) and when offered together with 2 g millet (GUD mixed). The dotted line marks 1.8 g, or 90% of the offered 2 g of native seed. Species with GUDs above this line were considered non-foraged. The solid line marks 0.94 g, the mean GUD of millet. Different lower case letters above bars indicate significant differences in overall mean GUDs among the ten native plant species (Tukey HSD post hoc test). (B) Selectivities for millet when offered alone (Selectivity Alone) and when mixed with 2 g of each of 10 native seeds (Selectivity mixed). The dotted line marks 0.5, the selectivity value at which both seed types are consumed randomly (as encountered). Different lower case letters above bars indicate significant differences in overall mean selectivities for millet when paired with each of the ten native plant species (Tukey HSD post hoc test).