Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 6, 2026

A Push-pull Protocol to Reduce Colonization of Bird Nest Boxes by Honey Bees
Published on: September 4, 2016
Energetic cost of feeding territories in an Hawaiian honeycreeper
F Lynn Carpenter1, Richard E MacMillen1
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 92717, Irvine, California, USA.
Abstract:
By analysis of time budgets the daily energy expenditure in territorial individuals of a Hawaiian honeycreeper (Vestiaria coccinea, Fam. Drepanididae) were estimated during the nonbreeding season and compared to that of nonterritorial individuals. The mean rise in living costs was 2.3 kcal/24 h or 17% of the nonterritorial energy budget. The most costly territorial behavior was advertisement rather than chasing, and total territorial cost was seen to be little affected by the number of intruders or the size of the territory. These results are compared with data on feeding (nonbreeding) territories of other nectar-feeding birds. The suggestion is made that hummingbirds may be more likely to develop nonbreeding territorial behavior in any set of environmental circumstances than are honeycreepers because of relatively lower total cost of advertisement plus chasing.
More Related Videos
10:35Monitoring Colony-level Effects of Sublethal Pesticide Exposure on Honey Bees
Published on: November 15, 2017
07:17Evaluation of the Productivity of Social Wasp Colonies Vespinae and an Introduction to the Traditional Japanese Vespula Wasp Hunting Technique
Published on: September 11, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Energy Budgets
Optimal Foraging
Trophic Efficiency
Production Efficiency
Predator-Prey Interactions
Conservation of Declining Populations