MIGRANT BIRD PARTICIPATION AT AN ARMY ANT SWARM IN MONTANE JALISCO, MEXICO

The arthropod-flushing behavior of above-ground swarming army ants (tr ibe Ecitonini) provides Neotropical birds with a unique food resource. The extent to which birds exploit this resource varies geographically , because of the variable swarming behavior of different army ant spec ies and their distributions. During the winter, Neotropical-Nearctic m igrant birds may have greater opportunity at higher latitude army ant swarms because of a lack of dominant, obligate ant-following resident birds. Here we report observations of migrant birds foraging at a nort hern high tropical latitude, high elevation army ant (Labidus praedato r) swarm.