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What do foraging hummingbirds maximize?
Robert D Montgomerie1, John McA Eadie1, Lawrence D Harder2
1Department of Biology, Queen's University, K7L 3N6, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Oecologia
|March 18, 2017
Summary
Hummingbirds may not optimize energy intake rate but rather net energy per unit volume consumed (NEVC). This strategy, maximizing NEVC, could reduce foraging trips and territory defense costs for hummingbirds.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral ecology
- Animal foraging behavior
Background:
- Previous studies suggested hummingbirds do not forage optimally.
- Hainsworth and Wolf (1976) observed suboptimal food choices in hummingbirds.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the utility function hummingbirds optimize during foraging.
- To test the hypothesis that hummingbirds maximize net energy per unit volume consumed (NEVC).
Main Methods:
- Re-analysis of Hainsworth and Wolf's (1976) data.
- Experimental studies with Archilochus colubris (ruby-throated hummingbirds).
- Development of a simulation model for foraging behavior.
Main Results:
- Hummingbirds likely maximize net energy per unit volume consumed (NEVC), not just energy intake rate.
- NEVC maximization leads to fewer foraging trips and flower visits.
- This strategy can reduce daily energy expenditure and territory defense costs.
Conclusions:
- Hummingbird foraging decisions are optimized for NEVC, a strategy beneficial on longer time scales.
- NEVC maximization has implications for hummingbird energetics, territory size, and plant-pollinator interactions.
- Plants may adjust nectar concentration to maintain pollinator specificity under NEVC maximization.
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