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African penduline-tit (Anthoscopus caroli) hanging from the end of a branch and gleaning.. Gleaning is a feeding strategy by birds and bats in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals.
Musophagidae is one of very few bird families endemic to Africa, [6] one other being the mousebirds, Colliidae. All species are frugivorous, but they also eat leaves, buds, and flowers. Figs are an important part of their diet. They have rounded wings and long tails and strong legs, making them poor fliers, but good runners. [6]
folivores: birds that forage for and eat leaves, such as hoatzin and mousebirds. [141] [146] frugivores: birds that forage for and eat fruit, such as turacos, tanagers and birds-of-paradise. [146] granivores: (sometimes called seed-eating): birds that forage for seeds and grains, [149] such as geese, grouse and estrildid finches. [141] [146]
These are medium to large-sized passerines, ranging from the golden bowerbird at 22 cm (8.7 in) and 70 g (2.5 oz) to the great bowerbird at 40 cm (16 in) and 230 g (8.1 oz). Their diet consists mainly of fruit but may also include insects (especially for nestlings), flowers, nectar and leaves in some species. [2]
Herbivory is of extreme ecological importance and prevalence among insects.Perhaps one third (or 500,000) of all described species are herbivores. [4] Herbivorous insects are by far the most important animal pollinators, and constitute significant prey items for predatory animals, as well as acting as major parasites and predators of plants; parasitic species often induce the formation of galls.
Common grackle Iridescence of the grackle's feathers A juvenile common grackle stands in freshly cut grass. The common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) is a species of large icterid bird found in large numbers through much of North America. First described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, the common grackle has three subspecies. Adult common grackles have ...
Morton (1978) attributed this to the fact that leaves are heavy, slow to digest, and contain little energy relative to other foods. [2] The hoatzin is an example of a flighted, folivorous bird, but it is a weak flier, due to the well-developed foregut (used to digest its food) reducing the area available for flight muscles to attach. [3]
Piracy or Kleptoparasitism - used by some birds to make others disgorge their prey. This is seen in many species of bird including raptors, skuas and a few others and notably absent among seed-eating birds. It is found mainly when hosts are found in numbers and when the food item is large and visible. [7]