The nutritional value of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), midribbed snow‐tussock (Chionochloa pallens Zotov), and red tussock (Chionochloa rubra Zotov) for the takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri Meyer

Abstract

A feeding trial was carried out to determine the nutritional value of midribbed snow‐tussock (Chionochloa pallens Zotov), red tussock (Chionochloa rubra Zotov), and cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) for the takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri Meyer), an endangered flightless herbivorous rail endemic to New Zealand. Three captive‐reared birds were fed each of the diets for 11 days, during which food intake, faecal plus urinary output, nutrient balances and coefficients of absorption/retention of energy, nitrogen, soluble sugars, starch, and mineral elements were determined. The mean dry matter (DM) intake was of the order cocksfoot > midribbed snow‐tussock > red tussock. The proportions of total soluble sugars absorbed from all grasses were in the range 0.8–0.96, whilst the proportions of energy absorbed (0.24, 0.17, ‐0.29) and nitrogen retained (0.19, 0.15, ‐0.04) from all grasses were low. Cocksfoot was nutritionally superior to the tussocks for most parameters measured, suggesting that islands with pasture habitat should adequately meet the requirements of takahe. © 2004 Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.