Nectar concentration preferences and sugar intake in the white-bellied sunbird, Cinnyris talatala (Nectariniidae)

作者：Leseigneur C D C; Nicolson S W^*

来源：Journal of Comparative Physiology B-Biochemical Systems and Environmental Physiology, 2009, 179(6): 673-679.

DOI：10.1007/s00360-009-0348-2

• Nectar
• Feeding preference
• Sunbirds
• Sugar concentration

Plant nectar is a simple food consumed by many different animals. Preferences regarding its components, especially sugars, have been studied for many species, but the preferences of nectar-feeding birds for different sugar concentrations are less well known than their sugar type preferences. The concentration preferences of white-bellied sunbirds, Cinnyris talatala, were examined using paired solutions of either sucrose or equicaloric 1:1 mixtures of glucose and fructose. Preferences were tested over a broad concentration range of 0.25-2.5 M sucrose equivalents (using 0.25 or 0.5 M differences between pairs). On both sucrose and hexose diets, the higher concentration was preferred up to 1 M, but there were no significant preferences above this concentration, except that birds preferred 1.5 to 2 M sucrose. As with other nectar-feeding vertebrates, the laboratory preferences of sunbirds do not explain the low concentration of their natural nectars. We recorded apparent excess sugar consumption during 6 h preference tests involving concentrated hexose diets; this could be due to digestive constraints or viscosity differences between sucrose and hexose solutions.

• 出版日期2009-8