Birds optimize fruit size consumed near their geographic range limits

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 385; no. 6706; pp. 331 - 336
• Main Authors: Martins, Lucas P, Stouffer, Daniel B, Blendinger, Pedro G, Böhning-Gaese, Katrin, Costa, José Miguel, Dehling, D Matthias, Donatti, Camila I, Emer, Carine, Galetti, Mauro, Heleno, Ruben, Menezes, Ícaro, Morante-Filho, José Carlos, Muñoz, Marcia C, Neuschulz, Eike Lena, Pizo, Marco Aurélio, Quitián, Marta, Ruggera, Roman A, Saavedra, Francisco, Santillán, Vinicio, Schleuning, Matthias, da Silva, Luís Pascoal, Ribeiro da Silva, Fernanda, Tobias, Joseph A, Traveset, Anna, Vollstädt, Maximilian G R, Tylianakis, Jason M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 19.07.2024
• Subjects: Animals; Beak - anatomy & histology; Birds; Birds - physiology; Diet; Dispersal; Environmental stress; Feeding Behavior; Food selection; Fruit; Fruits; Geographical variations; Seed dispersal

Animals can adjust their diet to maximize energy or nutritional intake. For example, birds often target fruits that match their beak size because those fruits can be consumed more efficiently. We hypothesized that pressure to optimize diet-measured as matching between fruit and beak size-increases u...