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 30 bird food DHJanzen101164.jpg high resolution
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| Arctic midges (Chironomidae), a tiny portion of the quadrillions of them that grow up in the pools of snow melt water on the tundra, pools relatively free of predators and rich in dissolved nutrients from rotting plant matter and fecal material from the very large number of migratory birds and lemmings. Like the lemming-predator food chain, this one is also very direct - the chironomid midge larvae live in the pools and are harvested by birds (insectivores like the arctic bunting and sandpipers, and migratory ducks/geese), who in turn may be harvested on occasion by the same predators that feed on lemmings. | ||
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