4.3 Size analysis of birds visiting Huevos de
Caballo
While the four dominant species — Hoffmann’s Woodpecker, Red-legged
Honeycreeper, Rufous-naped Wren, and Yellow-green Vireo made constant
visits back-and-forth to feed on the fruits, some of the larger birds
stayed in Huevos de Caballo for much longer periods of time to
continue feeding. I have already mentioned a Fiery-billed Aracari that I
videoed taking at least eighteen fruits (one at a time) in succession.
Similarly, Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris ),
White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica ), Keel-billed Toucan
(Ramphastus sulfuratus ), Lesson’s Motmot (Momotus
lessonii ), Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis ),
Great Kiskadee, and Clay-colored Thrush (Turdus grayi ) spent
longer times in a tree. While larger birds also did this in Gumbo
Limbos, given the relatively scarcity of fruit to be had in Huevos
de Caballo trees (at most four different seed husks might be open at
one time on a tree), these larger birds showed much more antagonism
toward the smaller birds, and sometimes even toward birds of similar
size. At times the competition for fruit even caused small birds to
chase other small birds. However, even if these larger birds did not
exhibit antagonistic behavior, by situating themselves on a branch
either over or under an opened husk, they monopolized that fruit for as
long as they were there.
In Table 3 I have divided the birds by size using the same criteria as I
did above (i.e., larger or smaller than 15 cm) for the birds visiting
Gumbo Limbo. I have also arranged them by actual size as is shown by
their length in centimeters within the brackets (Garrigues and Dean
2014). Several things stand out when looking at Table 3 in terms of the
size of the birds observed visiting Huevos de Caballo . The first
and most obvious is that almost twice as many birds that visitedHuevos de Caballo were medium-sized (larger than 15 cm), and at
least two (Keel-billed Toucan and Montezuma Oropendola) might well be
considered “Large.” The second is that three of the medium-sized birds
(White-winged Dove, Clay-colored Thrush, and Rufous-naped Wren) and two
of the small birds (Yellow Warbler and Chestnut-capped Warbler) visited
many more times than they fed. In contrast, three of the medium-sized
birds (Keel-billed Toucan,
Table 3. Birds Visiting Huevos de Caballo