Eating the forbidden fruit? Avocado consumption by neotropical birds at an urban garden.:

Abstract

The consumption of fruits by birds that visited a feeder in an urban garden in Guanare, Venezuela, was evaluated.There was anemphasis in the analysis of the consumption of avocado (Persea americana) whose fruit, leaves and seed have been found to be toxic for some animals. The number of visits to the feeder of each species was counted. The time spent in the consumption of each fruit type was calculated prorating the duration of every visit according to the number of pecks in each one of them. In a first trial, avocado, papaya, plantain, banana, and mango were offered simultaneously. Birds of the Turdidae family (Turdus leucomelas and T. nudigenis) consumed exclusively avocado, while Sicalis flaveola and Thraupis episcopus preferred mango and plantain, respectively. In a second trial, Musaceae fruits (plantain or banana)andavocado were offered.Of the total time devoted to the consumption of avocado,80% belonged to only three species: the two thrushes and the Red-crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus). The other species either did not consume avocado or consumed Musaceae fruits during a high percentage of their time at the feeder, as was the case of T. episcopus (92.2%), Mimus gilvus (87.8%), Cacicus cela (97.9%), Psarocolius decumanus (92.9%) and Euphonia laniirostris (83.1%) It is the first time that the consumption of the P. americana fruit has been evaluated in Neotropical birds. The non-preference (or rejection) of some birds for avocado deserves to be investigated in moredetail.