MATERIALSAND METHODS
This study was conducted in district Haripur. . Haripur is the main city
of the Haripur District in Hazara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, with
Swabi and Buner to the west, some 65 km north of Islamabad and 35 km
south of Abbottabad. It is in a hilly plain area at an altitude of 520
m. Having the 33.9946° N, 72.9106° E. With the pleasant weather and
hilly areas with grasses and pine trees.
Treepie Food items were determined by direct focal observation method
(Altman, 1981), analysis of gut content (Altman et al. , 1974) and
analysis of faecal matter. Birds were monitored from a distance of 5-10
m with a binocular by hiding behind trees and a telescope (20 x); for 15
days/month at the rate of 1 hr/day, during 2018 period. Altogether 130
visits were made. Spotted from study site Gut contents of four dead
birds were analyzed. Ten fresh faecal matter samples collected from the
ground was rinsed in water and the materials were sorted using a brush
and magnifying glass. Collected items were identified up to order/
family/genus/species level. Food items were quantified according to
their frequency of occurrence (F.O). The presenc of an item, despite the
number of individuals containing in the sample was taken as frequency of
occurence (F.O) (Rocha et al., 2008). Percentage of occurrence (P.O) was
quantified by counting all occurrences of an item to estimate the
minimal number of preyed individuals. Since the faecal matter analysis
solely emphasised the undigested hard tissues of the consumed items, the
P.O was not considered.