Dear Adam,
Thanks for this observation.
Although there are a fair number of observations of monkeys
killing and eating 'vertebrate prey', in no species is this common. In
fact, primates killing and eating 'vertebrate prey' is only common in
humans. It is only in humans where more than 1% of the diet is comprised
of vertebrate prey.
While many primates (e.g., monkeys, prosimians) eat much
'animal matter' (perhaps >90% in some species), almost all of this
is 'invertebrate prey'. Humans are the exception. Many
species of monkeys spend much time seeking invertebrate prey but, it seems,
few spend any time 'actively seeking/hunting' vertebrate prey (there are some
exceptions such as baboons seasonally hunting gazelle fawns...and common
chimpanzees hunting monkeys and duikers...but, at most sites, this is not a
common activity). Having said this, however, when an
animal-eating monkey does come upon a small vertebrate (e.g. egg,
galago, bird, rodent, reptile), it will not hesitate to kill and eat
it...obviously relishing the relatively large prey and, typically, not sharing
it with other group members.
I am not aware of any records of a non-human
primate eating a prey item that it did not, itself, kill...or which
was not killed by a group member. Thus, it seems highly likely that the
monkey with the quail killed that quail (i.e., that quail was not 'scavenged').
I would be interested to receive any records of non-human
primates killing/eating vertebrate prey from any of the subscribers to the
kenyabirds and tanzaniabirds sites. Thanks!
Best regards,
Tom
In a message dated 5/28/2014 9:37:14 P.M. E. Africa Standard
Time, kenyabirdsnet@yahoogroups.com writes:
Dear All,
While birding with a group from the rooftop terrace of
Serena Mountain Lodge on the afternoon of 12th May 2014, we found
ourselves inundated by the resident white-throated Skye’s Monkeys and they
took up positions on the balconies and proceeded to scan the scene. Suddenly,
one animal that I was photographing jumped off the balcony and returned about
30 seconds later with a bird in its mouth that I could see was a male
Harlequin Quail. The bird appeared limp and ‘fresh’ but there was no
indication that it was alive. The monkey was bold in its attempts to keep the
prey item to itself and proceeded to eat the bird head first.
This observation was noteworthy on two counts; firstly, I
would imagine there are few records of this monkey species eating a Harlequin
Quail. Secondly, it was a strange location for a Harlequin Quail which I can
only suppose was migrating over the forest of Mount Kenya at night and drawn
to the bright lights of the lodge. We’ll never know if the bird was already
dead or just recuperating after an exhaustive night before it was
‘dispatched’.
Sadly, it was the observation of the quail on our trip!
Cheers for now,
Adam