Oecologia

, Volume 26, Issue 3, pp 213–223 | Cite as

Energetic cost of feeding territories in an Hawaiian honeycreeper

  • F. Lynn Carpenter
  • Richard E. MacMillen
Article
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Summary

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.

Keywords

Energy Expenditure Energy Budget Energetic Cost Daily Energy Time Budget 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1976

Authors and Affiliations

  • F. Lynn Carpenter
    • 1
  • Richard E. MacMillen
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaIrvineUSA

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