Food resource partitioning between males and females of Volcano Sunbird (Cinnyris preussi) on Mount Cameroon

Abstract

AbstractCompetition for nectar is expected to result in feeding niche differentiation. Here, we targeted the sexually size-dimorphic Volcano Sunbird (Cinnyris preussi) on Mount Cameroon. We investigated whether males and females feed on different plant species, whether females with shorter bills than males prefer shorter flowers, and whether larger dominant males visit more energetic flowers that produce higher amounts of nectar sugars. We also asked whether feeding niches were spatially separated along the elevation gradient and whether this separation varied between the two contrasting seasons. We collected data on the frequency of visits to individual plant species and analyzed the male-to-female ratios in the mist-netted dataset. In addition, we estimated production of nectar sugar in individual habitats and seasons. Despite the large dataset collected, encompassing 6476 bird–plant interactions, our findings did not provide evidence of differences in the spectra of the visited plant species. In addition, females did not visit flowers with shorter tubes, nor did males visit flowers that produced higher amounts of sugars. However, we observed a sex-specific dispersion of sunbirds during the wet season. During the dry breeding season, both males and females feed mainly in nectar-rich montane and submontane forests. In the wet season, the production of nectar sugar in these habitats decreased dramatically, and females largely disappeared. In contrast, female activity increased in the lowest and highest parts of the altitudinal range. Our findings on elevational movements are important in the current context, in which species face potential threats from habitat destruction and climate change.