Seasonal effects on foraging behaviour of two sympatric species of couas in the western dry forest of Madagascar

Coquerel's Coua (Coua coquereli) and Ked-capped Coua (Coua ruficeps) occur in the western dry forest of Ankara-fantsika in northwest Madagascar. This kind of forest is characterized by an alternating of a dry and a rainy season. Although they belong to the same genus. the two species differ in appearance, with Red-capped Coua being slender than Coquerel's Coua. We analyse their respective foraging strategies, according to the seasonal variation. The foraging behaviour of both species was different and was also influenced by the seasonal variations. They tended to use the same main substrates but differed in the proportion of foraging techniques according to the season. Seasonal variations probably have an important effect on the prey availability (estimated by the rate of prey capture), the nature of prey and also alternative foraging substrates used, forcing the two species to use different techniques and probably to capture different prey. These different foraging strategies could maintain the coexistence between these two species.