Nectar intake of White-Bellied Sunbirds (Cinnyris talatala) : can meal size be inferred from feeding duration?
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Date
Authors
Koehler, Angela
Verburgt, Luke
Nicolson, Sue W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Abstract
A positive relationship between feeding duration and meal size of avian nectarivores has often been assumed in earlier studies.
We investigated whether feeding duration can be used as a surrogate for the amount of sugar solution ingested by whitebellied
sunbirds, Cinnyris (Nectarinia) talatala. Feeding durations of sunbirds consuming three sucrose concentrations (10%, 20%, and 40% w/w) were measured using an infrared
photodetection system, and the amounts consumed were recorded simultaneously by weighing the feeder throughout the
experiment. For all three diet concentrations, a positive relationship
was found between the time spent feeding per 30 min and the mass consumed. Therefore, feeding duration is demonstrated to be an index of the amount ingested on a particular
sugar concentration. The rate of ingestion, however, depended on the sugar concentration, with the highest rate at the lowest concentration of 10% and the lowest rate at the 40% concentration. Less total time was spent feeding on the 20% solution
than on the 10% solution, but time increased on the 40% diet because of viscosity effects. There appeared to be a weak relationship between feeding patterns and sex, but this was not significant, probably because of interindividual variation.
Description
Keywords
Feeding, Meal size, Sunbirds, Cinnyris talatala
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Kohler, A, Verburgt , L & Nicolson, SW 2008, ‘Nectar intake of White-Bellied Sunbirds (Cinnyris talatala) : can meal size be inferred from feeding duration?’, Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, vol. 81, no. 5, pp. 682-687. [http://0- www.journals.uchigaco.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/588174]