March 1982
Foodof the Mistletoebirdnear PumicestonePassage, south-easternQueensland
IOHN LIDDY
The diet ol the Mistleioebird Dtcaem hitundinaceum was studied near Eeerburrum soulh-easternQueensland, by examinalion ol material voided by 92 brrds over a three- vear oeriod- Between lale December and June. the basic food ol the few birds present in lhe area is lruit ot the Viscaceous mistletoe Nololhixos subaufers. Mistletoebirds congregale in the area between July and Novemberto feed on the lruits of the Loran- thaceous mistletoe Amyema cambagei. Epicarps of neilher fruit are eaten. Material voided did not contain the chilinous remains of arlhropods.
'I hc basic food of thc Mistlctricbird 1)ftoc,llr Studl '\rea Itir urtdinate'um consistsof thc fruits of various Mist nettirg and bandirrg*activitics harc bccn spccicsoI mistletoc\.Thc onlv other food rc- calricd oul sincemid-I971 on a farnt at (iruic- cordcLlrvith sonrc frcqucncy is berries of the 'Ircc bank (26 58'S.. I5.l {)4'l-.). somc ll kn] cast Introduccd Pcpper SQueensland. Arthur (l97ll) plcsclllcdu map anclaeriul phott> birrlsfronr such widcsprcatllocalities as Wanga- graph sho*,ingthc location of (itwicbank and ratta. Vic. (('hcncv l9l5). Barcllan.N.S.W. 'foucrs, its surrouncls.Thc farnr fronts Punriccstonc (( hisholnr l9ll{). ( harters (( ohn Qltl. Passagc.uhich is thc \\ atcr\\'a,vl)ct\\ccn llrihie 192(r).Mounl Mar,vPlains. S.A. (Bochnr 1957). lslanrlanil lhc adjaccntcoast ol sorJth-castcrn an(l Nangccnan.W.A. (Sedglick l(.)..18).Occa- [ixccpt for u rclativclynarrow sttip rionallvotlrcr fruits harc bcctr Quccnslarcl. rccrrrclcdas bcing of nati\c \cgctation along thc forcsl'rorc.thc catcn, an(l thcsc includc such divcrsc spccics larnr is srrrroundeclbv cxtcnsivcplantations of rs thc saltbushcs I..tttltylacnu t()tn(nt()\u ill(l cxotic pilrcs I'intLr ([i(rttii, P. tcoda antl P. tari- llltagotliu tpincscenr (Sullir,an l9ll). natirc figs l ibird (Rosc l97J). trccs 1o staudsof about 100 m in rviclth.A salt nrarslt, No accounthar hccn publishcdof thc Llietol gcncrall_vl0 to -10m wiclc.occLrrs behincl mrjch thc Mistlctochircl'l lhroughout thc vcar for anv lr'culit\ ltc ptcscrrlp!pcr' ,lr'!rrnf,jn1;p;111 ,;l lhe dict of thc Mi\tlctocbird ncar punticcstonc Passagc.south-castern Queenslancl.antl is basccl ' on thc idcntificationof matcrial roidcd o\'er a lhl(l\ u5cd \crc provided b\' the ALr\tralian llird- bandinF Schenre, Divi\ion of Wildlitc Rcscarch, thrcc vcar pcriorl to Mav I9110. ( stRo 12 I Ltddy.Food ol the lUistebebrrd Corela 6 (1) ol the mangrorcs,exccpt \\hcre sandbanksin- ilssociats(l\ototlti.ros is attributcLlto thc cessa- trrltlc. Cosuurina glau(a ts thc dominant trec of tion ol burning irr l9(r7. thcsc sandbanks. Thc ripc fruit ol Antv'tnu is globular.pcarll- 'l'rccs of thc nodi6ccl opcn foro\t afc gcnc- pink in colour ancl is quitc cor'rspicuous.Ihc rall! l0 to 20 m in hcight, and arc principally rrcrugc rvcightof thc lipc fluit. nrirrurcpicurp. l\lclaltrr<'e (luitlqucn?r r id, Casuo'irtu gluucu, is t).101 g. while thc airplants of L\'tiatla exo(dtpi Mistletoebirtlsthroughout thc ycar in thc stu(l-v occtff' 0l'l C. glctuca. iirca can bc tluantificdby considcringthc num- bcrs ol birds ncttc(l bet\\recn.luly I97l an(l Iloth Viscaccousn]istlctocs oI tl]e arca arc .lanua11 l98l (Tablc l). sccontlar! hcnriparasitcson the Lolanthaccous nristlctoc:,.Thc mo\t plenliful, Notothi.xossutt- Melhods cuf{,Ir.!,occurs on about onc tenth of all maturc Most Mistletoebirdsvoid nristlctocsccds \\,hilc Antytna ancl Dandroplttltoe plants in thc afca. caught in thc misl nct. rcstrainc(lin a calico I'istun artiutlutulrl also occurs on both ,4m.r'crra holdingbag or whi)c bcing lranillctlrluring bantl- antl Dandroplttltoc, not infrcquentll- in associa- ing anci examinalion.For thc tl'rrcc to \\ith l/cars tion \TABLE 2
Malerial \'{)ided b\ N{i\tlclr)ebirdr orcr a threc tear pcri('d.
Dalc Numbers of Mistlclocbirdr Abundancc of Handled Did not Voided Voided \tJidcd .,1,r r'€r?o ripe ADtl?n|t void secds AntvDla N!)lLlhix.\ plus fruils only orlll
5. 6.11 I None f()und 9. 1.71 I None found 23. 7.11 2 I Y anI 6.8.77 5 2 14an\ 20.8.'t'l 1 2 2 Multitudc l. 9.1',| I I Ivlult il udc 18.9.77 14 I ll Manl .t Nlan! L t0.77 5 I '7 15.10.7? l0 2 ! Man! 29.t0.17 ,t I -1 Sprr\c lt.lt.77 , I 20.I L77 2 2 spar\e .r1.t2.77 2 2 Nonc fr)und
l. 7.?8 I Nonc founrl 21.7.78 .l l 6.8.71t 2 I None found 19.8.7lt -t l itparsc :1.9.78 5 It an! 17.e.78 8 7 M an\ :4.| 2.78 Spar\c
.r. 2.79 I None prescnl 8.4.79 I I5. 5.79 I None prc\cnl 21. 7.79 1.9.79 -5 I :l Sparsc t-t.9.79 I :9.9.79 .r .l +.1t.79 I I 7
t. -1.80 I l Nonc prcsenl 29.3.80 I I Nonc prescnl 26.4.80 I
* AIv) loidcd one largcr unidenlifie(l sccd. probabll Ltiana etcorpi or not Nololhi-{()s fruits arc sufticiently ripe to Seedsothcr than fron] mistlctoefruits \rcrc scrvc as food for Mistletoebirds during thcsc not voidcd by Mistlctoebirdsduring the threc periods has yet been cstablished. vcar studv. However David Evans. owner of thc itu.ly ur"u. has seen Mistlctocbirds fcccling orr To datc. sccds of l"i.r(um arliMistletoebird.In February 1978. a clump ol rccorded eating fruits of thc Ruby Saltbush D. r'itcllinu, frcshll shed from M. quinquenertiu, Enchylaena tomcntosu at Morec. N.S.W. (Sulli- contained one small Visc'um anrl three small van l9-'if). En<'ltyloenais a common prostratc Notplant mate- watcr$at. K. McArthur, C'ak)undra,Qld. rial: antl to Shirley and David Purchasc for Quinn, W. L. (1960),'The Misl'etoe-birdat Kersbrook. hclplul comnrcnton thc manu\cript. S.A.',ir1r. Rird-Wot(lrcrl: ll9-120. Robcfl\, N. L. (1917), 'Somc Ecological Aspects of Ilird Life', Earu -17:150-156. Rosc,A- ll. (197:l),'Foodof n)mc AustraliarlBiids, Refercnces Entu 711 177-183. 'Notcs Ilochm,Ii. F. (1957),'Pcrchin!Birds (Passeriformes) ScdS$ick,L. H. (1938), from NanSccnan,\A'.4.', of lhe Nlount Mart Plains, South Australia', Erra Entu i7t 172-175. -s7: .l l l,-'124. St|llivan, C. (l9ll). 'Nt)te\ from Norlh-Western (hcnct. (i. Nt. (1915), Bird\ of the Wangaralta Di\- N.S.\\.', Eata -11: 124-l35. rricl. Vicloria . EDtu l1: 199-213. Watson, I. (1955), 'S()meSpecics Seen al lhe l-averton Chisholm. lj. C. ( l9.llj), Ilir(l\ of Barellan, N.S.W.', Salt$o.ks, Viclr)ria, 1950-1951, tr.ilh Noles on E,'z l7: l0l-l I't. Seas(nalChanses', Entu 55: 221-248. (leland. J. ll. I1952), Ihc Disp€r\al ('f Planrs bl llird\', \ {r1\r ()rn.20 72-71. (i'hn, Nt. 11926), Rccords of Birds l\lo\cnlcnts', frr! 2-s:282-286. 'Mistlclocbird Griflilh\, K. (1977), feeding on I]lack Nighl\hadc Berrie\', ,/err. Au\t. Nat. l1: 25. Jarman,H. (1951).'The R.A.O.U.CamB)ur in (enrral Au\tralia , frnr 5l: 169-18-5. Jcrrrrd,(. H. H. (19.12),Birds and prrisonousplants'. Elrrr ll: 215. Keasl, A. (1958), 'lnllucnccs()l Ecok)8] on Variation J. Liddy. in thc Mi\tletl)c-birdI Di&eunt hiundhat'"un)', Enu 5 Ben Street, -s8:195-206. Chermside.Old. 4032
