SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 
169 
within the northern part of the Austral Parakeet’s 
distribution (37° S, 71° W) near the Chilean 
border at 1,050 m elevation. Feeding behavior of 
Austral Parakeets from a southern location was 
also recorded during November-December 2005, 
2008, and 2009 in a pure old-growth Nothofagus 
pumilio forest (hereafter PF) at 41° S, 71° W; 
1,300 m elevation. 
Observations were made while systematically 
walking along human and animal trails, covering 
the entire study area between 0800 and 1100 hrs 
in the morning (720 hrs in MF and 288 hrs in PF). 
We recorded the exact location each time a 
parakeet or flock was detected, and the identity of 
food items consumed to species level. If the 
parrots changed to another food source during the 
period of observation, the new material was 
recorded as a different feeding bout (Galetti 
1993). Each feeding bout varied from a few 
seconds to several minutes with the entire flock 
participating in each observation. 
Flocks of five to 39 birds were observed within 
MF on 43 occasions during November and 
December eating Aditrochus fagicolus (Chalci- 
doidea: Pteromalidae) larvae (Nieves-Aldrey et al. 
2009) in lenga beech leaf galls. Additionally, we 
recorded occasional consumption of lenga leaf 
galls 36 times during November-December in 
2005,2008, and 2009 in PF. Flocks of between 60 
and 80 individuals were seen eating the contents 
of leaf galls, always in the same PF patch within 
each of the 3 years. We observed 221 Austral 
Parakeets (flocks between 4 and 7 birds) during 
December between 2007 and 2009 in MF on 69 
different occasions eating larvae of Nemonychi- 
dae (Coleoptera) inside male pehuen cones. 
Austral Parakeets were observed 12 times (136 
individuals in flocks of 8-11 birds) eating lenga 
beech seed galls (Mar-Jun 2008 and 2009). These 
galls housed insects in the Orders Homoptera, 
Lepidoptera, and Diptera. The parakeets ate only 
the larvae and discarded the vegetative parts of 
the gall (lenga beech leaf and seed galls) or 
pehuen male cone in all cases. 
DISCUSSION 
Consumption of larvae was mainly concentrat¬ 
ed during the pre-reproductive period (92.5% of 
the observations), indicating synchronization be¬ 
tween demand for high-quality food, and the 
sporadic and concentrated appearance of galls and 
cones. Food availability in MF throughout the pre- 
reproductive period (Dec) of Austral Parakeets is 
relatively low and primarily consists of pollen of 
10 different species (SD, unpubl. data). Austral 
Parakeets were selective during this period and 
only consumed lenga beech, pehuen, and Mis- 
odendrum pollen. All observations of Austral 
Parakeets foraging on larvae contained within 
male pehuen cones were obtained during this 
period. These cones take half a year to complete 
their development and are hard to open while 
green. December, when the pollen is released, is 
the only time of the year when the male cones are 
fully developed and easy for Austral Parakeets to 
open and take advantage of the opportunity to 
forage on them. Larvae develop partially inside 
the cones until the cones are mature and fall from 
the trees, making them unavailable to parakeets. 
There are no observations of Austral Parakeets 
feeding on male cones or larvae contained within 
them once they have fallen to the ground. Lenga 
beech leaf gall consumption was also concentrat¬ 
ed in the pre-reproductive period in both loca¬ 
tions. Parakeets consumed mature and immature 
galls, which are distinguishable by their color, 
suggesting that larvae of different sizes were 
ingested. Parakeets were not observed to feed on 
larvae or insects during the reproductive season, 
when alternative sources of food were more 
available. The parakeets fed primarily on leaves 
and seeds (SD, unpubl. data for MF; Diaz and 
Kitzberger 2006 for PF) during this period. 
The consumption of larvae contained in lenga 
beech seed galls was only observed during the 
post-fledging period, when almost all lenga beech 
seeds are mature. These larvae may represent an 
important protein source for juveniles as the galls 
are available until winter (SD, unpubl. data), and 
lenga beech seeds have only 12% protein and 
19% lipids (Diaz and Kitzberger 2006). This 
suggests post-reproductive events, including ju¬ 
venile dispersal and molting, rather than nesting, 
coincide with a short period of elevated protein- 
rich food availability. 
Adult arthropods infest galls and cones in a 
locally aggregated way (e.g., stand of trees) (J. L. 
Nieves-Aldrey, pers. comm.). Parakeets appear to 
know the precise location and timing of this food 
source, because they used it year after year in the 
pre-reproductive season. Thus, Austral Parakeets 
maximize exploitation of ephemeral protein 
sources during the period of high nutritional 
demand that occurs after winter scarcity. 
Forshaw (1989) indicated parrots are far more 
insectivorous than generally suspected. Insects are 
