Pre- and Post-Foraging Movements of Frugivorous Birds in an Eastern Deciduous Forest Woodland, USA

Abstract

I monitored avian frugivore pre-and post-foraging behavior at ten treefall gaps and six undisturbed sites in an eastern deciduous forest woodland in USA from 1981 to 1983. Frugivores usually made only one foraging visit to a fruiting plant while in a treefall gap. Frugivore species foraged at different heights in the canopy. Postforaging movements of canopy frugivores were faster than understory frugivores. Canopy frugivores never took fruit from canopy plants although understory frugivores took fruit from canopy plants. Frugivore movements away from treefall gaps were oriented toward the nearest gap with abundant fruit. These results indicated that frugivores will disperse small seeds farther than large seeds and that canopy frugivores have a higher probability of dispersing seeds into treefall gaps than do understory frugivores.