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Four apostlebirds (Struthidea cinerea) of a cooperative breeding group.Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes remain in association with their parents and help them raise subsequent broods or litters, instead of dispersing and beginning to ...
Many bats and birds rely heavily on fruits for their diet, including birds in the families Cotingidae, Columbidae, Trogonidae, Turdidae, and Ramphastidae. While eating fruit, these animals swallow seeds and then later regurgitate them or pass them in their faeces. Such ornithochory has been a major mechanism of seed dispersal across ocean barriers.
Most African barbets are about 20–25 cm (7.9–9.8 in) long, plump-looking, with large heads, and their heavy bill is fringed with bristles; the tinkerbirds are smaller, ranging down to the red-rumped tinkerbird (Pogoniulus atroflavus) at 7 g (0.25 oz) and 9 cm (3.5 in). They are mainly solitary birds, eating insects and fruit.
These birds are generally monogamous but not always faithful to their partner. In the western part of their range, they often hybridize with the lazuli bunting. Nesting sites are located in dense shrub or a low tree, generally 0.3–1 m (0.98–3.28 ft) above the ground, but rarely up to 9 m (30 ft). [22]
Kennard, H., List of Trees, Shrubs, Vines and Herbaceous Plants, native to New England, bearing fruit or seeds attractive to Birds (Reprint from Bird-Lore, v. XIV, no. 4, 1912) XIV, no. 4, 1912) McAtee, W. L., Plants useful to attract Birds and protect Fruit , (Reprint from Yearbook of Agriculture 1898)
Oystercatchers forage on mussels and crack them open with their bills. The constraints on these birds are the characteristics of the different mussel sizes. While large mussels provide more energy than small mussels, large mussels are harder to crack open due to their thicker shells.
Since they take fruit in flight as other species "hawk" for insects, they are believed to have evolved from insect-eating birds. Females have big territories from which they do not necessarily exclude other birds of their species, instead feeding somewhat socially. Males spend much of their time together at courtship sites.
Siblicide (attributed by behavioural ecologist Doug Mock to Barbara M. Braun) is the killing of an infant individual by its close relatives (full or half siblings). It may occur directly between siblings or be mediated by the parents, and is driven by the direct fitness benefits to the perpetrator and sometimes its parents.