The Importance of Flavour in Determining the Feeding Preferences of Bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) for the Buds of Two Pear Cultivars

An, Hong-Yan; Xu, Hongbo; Ye, Mao; Yu, Pu-Ji; Gong, Jirui

doi:10.2307/2403323

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Replaying the tapes provided measures of discomfort such as head-shaking, beakwiping and violently ruffling the body-feathers (cf. GREIG-SMITH 1985).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aversions of Starlings and Sparrows to Unfamiliar, Unexpected or Unusual Flavours and Colours in Food

Greig-Smith

1987

Ethology

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Captive starlings Sturnus vulgaris and house sparrows Passer domesticus were studied to explore the effects of previous experience on birds' aversions to quinine sulphate in blue‐coloured food. Daily food consumption and feeding behaviour were monitored for four groups of birds: (1) Control—birds trained to associate blue with quinine; (2) Unfamiliar—never having previously encountered blue or quinine; (3) Unexpected—trained to regard blue as palatable; (4) Anomalous—familiar with quinine in red, but not in blue food. Comparisons of these groups are discussed in relation to the way in which aversions are established, their implications for understanding birds' food selection behaviour, and the use of chemicals as bird deterrents in crop protection.

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“…Replaying the tapes provided measures of discomfort such as head-shaking, beakwiping and violently ruffling the body-feathers (cf. GREIG-SMITH 1985).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aversions of Starlings and Sparrows to Unfamiliar, Unexpected or Unusual Flavours and Colours in Food

Greig-Smith

1987

Ethology

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“…Fruit growers have long been aware that Bullfinches Pyrrhula pyrrhula prefer Conference pear buds to Comice buds, even though there are only small differences in their food values (Summers and Jones 1976, Greig-Smith et al 1983. Greig-Smith (1985) applied extracts of these buds to hemp seeds and filmed Bullfinches eating them. By noting behaviours such as head-shaking, bill-wiping, feather-ruffling, water consumption, and length of feeding bout, he showed that Bullfinches could detect these extracts and, as in the field, tended to avoid Comice more than Conference.…”

Section: Biochemistry Of Food Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant chemistry and bird repellents

Crocker

Perry

1990

Ibis

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Research into chemical bird repellents is reviewed. The feeding preferences of Bullfinches Pyrrhula pyrrhula for bud extracts of 26 pear cultivars were established in the laboratory and correlated with underlying biochemical differences between extracts. A group of phenolic compounds was identified as aversive. Some of these compounds proved to be powerful inhibitors of protease activity in uitro, supporting theories about the role of phenolics as plant defences against herbivores. A larger study, however, failed to demonstrate a correlation between their biochemical reaction with digestive enzymes and their ability to deter feeding by feral pigeons Columba livia. Nevertheless, cinnamamide was identified as a promising bird repellent, although its mechanism of action is unclear.

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“…1960;Newton, 1964;Summers, 1982), which are energy-rich (Summers. 1982), have higher concentrations of certain nutrients (Summers & Jones, 1976;Greig-Smith et (11.. 1983) and may be less distasteful (Greig-Smith, 1985).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of size, shape, and phenolic content on the selection of winter foods by the Azores bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina)

Ramos¹

1996

Journal of Zoology

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Although the quality of foods may change through the seasons, few studies have assessed shifts in food preferences. I studied winter food selection of the Azores bullfinch to evaluate whether physical characteristics (size and accessibility), or phenolic content of food items better explained changes of winter diet. The birds preferred larger items of all winter foods: seeds, sori and flower buds and more accessible seeds. In autumn, seeds seemed preferred to sori, but in spring birds switched from seeds to sori and flower buds, once the latter became larger. Phenols may influence food preference but they did not explain diet shifts or preferences for individual trees. Food selection is a complex mechanism, depending on the alternatives available and seasonal shifts in food preference may continually change the availability of ‘good quality food’.

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The Importance of Flavour in Determining the Feeding Preferences of Bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) for the Buds of Two Pear Cultivars

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Aversions of Starlings and Sparrows to Unfamiliar, Unexpected or Unusual Flavours and Colours in Food

Aversions of Starlings and Sparrows to Unfamiliar, Unexpected or Unusual Flavours and Colours in Food

Plant chemistry and bird repellents

The influence of size, shape, and phenolic content on the selection of winter foods by the Azores bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina)

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