The relative contribution of fruits and arthropods to the diet of three trogon species (Aves, Trogonidae) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

• Autor(a) principal: Pizo,Marco Aurélio
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Zoologia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-81752007000200035
• topic: Brazil; frugivory; insectivory; Trogon

Trogons are pan-tropical forest birds that eat a mix of fruits and arthropods. With direct observations of wild feeding birds, I assessed the relative contribution of fruits and arthropods to the diet of three trogon species (Trogonviridis, T.surrucura, and T.rufus) at Parque Estadual Intervales, southeast Brazil. Fruits and arthropods made the bulk of the food items recorded, with a tendency of frugivory increasing with body mass. The Trogon species differed in the proportion of fruits and arthropods taken, with T.viridis being the most frugivorous species (66% of feeding bouts, n = 47). The relative contribution of fruits and arthropods did not differ between the wet and dry seasons for any species. In the omnivorous gradient, T.viridis is close to the frugivorous extreme, whereas T.surrucura and T.rufus is next to the insectivorous end. Such a distinction may have important consequences for the territoriality and social behavior of these birds.