Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) as frugivores: a review and the first records from Argentina

PALACIO, FACUNDO XAVIER

ORNITOLOGIA NEOTROPICAL

NEOTROPICAL ORNITHOLOGICAL SOC

Lugar: ALEMANIA; Año: 2019

1075-4377

Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) are characterized by their specialized nectar-feeding behavior. However, fruit consumpti on by hum-mingbirds has been reported as an occasional behavior. I present a review on hummingbird frugivory in the Americas, along with the fi rst records from Argenti na. There have been 23 reports on fruit-hummingbird interacti ons belonging to 15 hummingbird species and 10 plant species, with records ranging from Chile to the United States. Two Gilded Hummingbirds (Hylocharis chrysura) and one Glitt ering -bellied Emerald (Chlorosti lbon lucidus ) foraging on blue passionfl ower (Passifl ora caerulea ) fruits were observed in northeastern Buenos Aires prov-ince, Argenti na. Far from being rare events, hummingbirds accounted for a 23% of total bird -fruit interacti ons at my study area. My results suggest that fruit consumpti on by hummingbirds has a broad geographic range and may be more common than previously thought, a t least in certain plant families, such as Cactaceae.