The Digestion of Pollen by Some Australian Birds

Wooller, R. D.; Richardson, K. C.; Pagendham, CM

doi:10.1071/zo9880357

Cited by 29 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…This level of pollen grain emptying is similar to that seen in field studies of Purple-crowned Lorikeets (Wooller et al 1988). This rate of pollen grain emptying is relatively low compared to that found in honey possums (95-100%).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Eucalyptus pollen grain emptying by two Australian nectarivorous psittacines

Gartrell¹,

Jones²

2001

Journal of Avian Biology

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S. M. 2001. Eucalyptus pollen grain emptying by two Australian nectarivorous psittacines. -J. Avian Biol. 32: 224 -230.The relative importance of pollen as a source of protein to vertebrates is controversial. In nectarivorous psittacine birds, field studies support its importance, but an experimental study in a nectarivorous parrot showed that less than 7% of pollen grains were emptied. We investigated pollen grain emptying by two nectarivorous Australian parrots, the Swift Parrot Lathamus discolor and the Musk Lorikeet Glossopsitta concinna. We used a controlled experiment, and examined pollen located at different levels through the alimentary tract of wild L. discolor. There was significant emptying of pollen grains (x =45.4% 91.91 s.e.) by all birds in the experimental trials. There was also a progressive increase in the percentage of pollen grains emptied at different sites along the alimentary tract in wild birds (crop x = 24.2%9 4.44 s.e., proventriculus x = 34.0% 9 7.29 s.e., duodenum x = 54.3% 9 5.42 s.e. and distal intestine x =64.2% 94.68 s.e.). The percentage of pollen grains emptied by captive L. discolor in the experimental trial (x =44.1% 92.77 s.e.) was not significantly different from that found in wild L. discolor (x =40.3% 94.25 s.e.). Both species of nectarivorous parrot were able to rapidly ingest large quantities of Eucalyptus pollen and appeared to empty the pollen grains efficiently. Eucalyptus pollen appears to be an important source of protein for these birds.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Eucalyptus pollen grain emptying by two Australian nectarivorous psittacines

Gartrell¹,

Jones²

2001

Journal of Avian Biology

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“…Pollen ingestion requires less energy than insect feeding, as pollen will be encountered while foraging on nectar. However, birds vary in their ability to extract nutrients from pollen, hummingbirds being less efficient than some other nectarfeeders (Wooller et al 1988, Brice et al 1989, Richardson and Wooller 1990, Van Tets and Nicolson 2000. Pollen protein constituents also vary between plant groups, with some essential amino acids lacking (Martı´nez del Rio 1994), perhaps limiting the usefulness of pollen as a diet component.…”

Section: Nitrogenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nectar as food for birds: the physiological consequences of drinking dilute sugar solutions

2003

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Abstract. Nectarivory has evolved many times in birds: although best known in hummingbirds, sunbirds and honeyeaters, it also occurs on an opportunistic basis in a varied assortment of birds. We present a phylogenetic analysis of the distribution of nectarivory in birds. Specialised avian nectarivores are generally small, with an energetic lifestyle and high metabolic rates. Their high degree of dependence on nectar as a food source has led to convergence in morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations. We examine the constituents of nectar which are most important to bird consumers, and how the birds deal with them in terms of physiology and behaviour. There are still unanswered questions: for example, the dichotomy between sucrose-rich nectars in hummingbirdpollinated plants and predominantly hexose-rich nectars in sunbird-pollinated plants appears to have little to do with bird physiologies and may rather reflect patterns of nectar secretion.

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“…To test this assumption it is necessary to compare animals that differ in their natural feeding habits under the same experimental conditions. For example, Woller et al (1988) found that specialized and non-specialized avian pollen feeders do not differ in their ability to extract pollen contents, but they did not use the same species of pollen for the comparison. To date, the only controlled study that compared the extraction efficiency of pollen grains in animals with different pollen use was conducted with phyllostomid bats (Herrera and Martı´nez del Rio 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Pollen digestion by nectarivorous and frugivorous Antillean bats

Mancina

Balseiro

2005

Mammalian Biology

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The ability to extract pollen contents may be related to the extent to which animals use this item as a regular part of their diet. In spite of the broad diversity of taxa that feed on pollen, comparative studies to test this hypothesis are scarce. We compared the extraction efficiency of pollen grains of Blue Mahoe (Talipariti elatum) by Antillean nectar bats (Brachyphylla nana) and Jamaican fruit bats (Artibeus jamaicensis). Antillean nectar bats extracted the contents of a higher percentage of pollen grains than Jamaican fruit bats, even though processing time in the gut was lower in the nectarivorous bats. Pollen extraction efficiency increased with time spent in the gut in each species. The gastrointestinal tract in both species resembled the functioning of a continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) equivalent to the stomach, in series with a plug-flow reactor (PFR) equivalent to the intestine with varying degrees of longitudinal mixing. Accordingly, pollen grains flowed continuously out of the stomach and moved out through the intestine where they were mixed longitudinally. Our results support previous findings of higher extraction efficiencies in nectarivorous bats than their frugivorous relatives, and suggest that these differences may be the result of differences in the level of activity of the enzymes responsible for pollen wall degradation. Identification of enzymatic mechanisms of pollen degradation would allow a direct test of this hypothesis.

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The Digestion of Pollen by Some Australian Birds

Cited by 29 publications

References 0 publications

Eucalyptus pollen grain emptying by two Australian nectarivorous psittacines

Eucalyptus pollen grain emptying by two Australian nectarivorous psittacines

Nectar as food for birds: the physiological consequences of drinking dilute sugar solutions

Pollen digestion by nectarivorous and frugivorous Antillean bats

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