Cicadas started singing in the Cretaceous (Senter 2008), using song mainly for courtship. Cicadas are also main contributors to the daytime soundscape of natural areas, with their sound intensity increasing as the day and the season progress, becoming dominant over bird songs (Farina et al. Many species emerge massively and can therefore be important elements in the food webs of forests and shrublands, at least for a few months every year (or every 13 to 17 years in North American periodical cicadas). Adults emerge after several years of juvenile life belowground to live a few days strictly as sap suckers in vegetation (Boulard and Mondon 1995). I suggest using non-invasive studies based on pellets and droppings and prioritizing declining bird species.Ĭicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea) are a conspicuous group of insects, mostly occurring in warm and temperate biomes.

More studies about the relative importance of cicadas as prey for birds in the Western Palearctic are needed. ConclusionsĪvailable knowledge is biased towards species that have been more intensively studied, and often lack proper quantification of prey items. Analysis of stomach contents and neck collar samples are the most common methods used in diet studies. Cicadas can make up as much as 70% of food items delivered to nestlings. Nymphs are consumed by some passerines, owls and herons. Avian predators include cuckoos, owls, bee-eaters, woodpeckers, falcons, reed-warblers, larks, crows and jays, buntings, shrikes, pipits and wagtails, flycatchers and chats, tits, sparrows, leaf-warblers, starlings, warblers and thrushes, but also terns and gulls. Many terrestrial birds predate on cicadas, preferably on adults. I estimated that 69 of these bird species are known to consume cicadas within the limits of the Western Palearctic. ResultsĪ total of 105 species (16% of those occurring in the region) belonging to 13 orders, and comprising 20 of the 33 passerine families, were found to consume cicadas. To help fill this gap, I consulted Cramp’s Birds of the Western Palearctic, conducted a search of online databases and used search engines to generate a database of Western Palearctic birds known to eat cicadas. In Europe, the Near East and North Africa, knowledge of cicada predation by birds is sparse. Their availability may produce demographic and behavioural effects on bird populations, as happens with forest avifauna feeding on periodical cicadas in North America. True cicadas (Cicadidae) are large and temporarily abundant insects.

Cicada predators