Samples were examined for prey DNA and fish hard parts. Faeces and pellets were sampled twice a day after the feed of large (350–540 g), medium (190–345 g) and small (15–170 g) fish meals contributing either a large (>79%) or small (<38%) share to the daily consumption. Here, we present a feeding trial on abundant piscivorous birds, Great Cormorants ( Phalacrocorax carbo), to assess meal size effects on postfeeding prey DNA detection success. Moreover, different noninvasively obtained sample types remain to be compared in such experiments. The effect of meal size, however, has not yet been explicitly considered for vertebrate consumers. To facilitate the interpretation of field‐derived data, feeding trials, investigating the impacts of biological, methodological and environmental factors on prey DNA detection, have been conducted. Molecular methods allow noninvasive assessment of vertebrate predator–prey systems at high taxonomic resolution by examining dietary samples such as faeces and pellets.
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