Sugar preferences of some southern African nectarivorous birds

Abstract

Three southern African nectarivorous passerine birds, Gurney's Sugarbird Promerops gur‐neyi, the Malachite Sunbird Nectarinia famosa and the Black Sunbird Nectarinia amethystina, were tested to determine their hexose and sucrose preferences. All three species preferred sucrose when offered a choice of 0.25 M solutions of glucose, fructose and sucrose. However, when the concentrations were increased to 0.73 M, the three species showed no preference for any of the three sugars. The choice made at low concentrations (equivalent to the lower limit of the range of nectar concentrations of preferred nectar‐producing plants) may reflect preference for the sugar with the highest energy reward. We also examined the proposition that birds offered a choice of different concentrations of one sugar would show ranked preferences and maximize their rate of energy return by selectivity. In contrast to expectations, Gurney's Sugarbird and the Malachite Sunbird showed no preference for the highest concentrations. We suggest that dietary choices in these species indicate the birds had either reached a limit where they had sufficient energy intake or were affected by post‐ingestion constraints.