Hewes Amanda E, Rico-Guevara Alejandro, McWhorter Todd J
Department of Biology University of Washington Seattle Washington USA.
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture Seattle Washington USA.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Jan 23;15(1):e70674. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70674. eCollection 2025 Jan.
Opportunistic nectarivory occurs in many avian lineages around the world. In order to understand the implications of this behavior to plant reproduction via pollination and to other nectarivores via competition, more thorough descriptions of opportunistic nectar-feeding behavior are necessary. We observed nectar feeding of the mallee ringneck, , on flowers of the spotted emu bush, , in the temperate mallee of South Australia. Here, we describe the nectar-feeding behavior of and discuss the implications for competition with honeyeaters and the reproduction of . We also compare the morphology of the feeding apparatus of with that of nectarivorous parrots, lorikeets and lories, to determine whether they share convergent morphological features to facilitate the consumption of nectar. Finally, we suggest avenues for future natural history work to better document opportunistic avian nectarivory in Australian ecosystems.
机会主义花蜜摄食现象在世界上许多鸟类谱系中都有发生。为了理解这种行为对植物授粉繁殖以及对其他花蜜摄食者竞争的影响，有必要对机会主义花蜜摄食行为进行更全面的描述。我们观察了南澳大利亚温带马利地区马利环颈鹦鹉在斑鸸鹋灌木花上的花蜜摄食情况。在此，我们描述了马利环颈鹦鹉的花蜜摄食行为，并讨论了其与吸蜜鸟竞争以及斑鸸鹋灌木繁殖的影响。我们还比较了马利环颈鹦鹉摄食器官的形态与食蜜鹦鹉、吸蜜鹦鹉和短尾鹦鹉的形态，以确定它们是否具有趋同的形态特征来便于花蜜的摄取。最后，我们提出了未来自然史研究的方向，以便更好地记录澳大利亚生态系统中机会主义鸟类花蜜摄食情况。
