First observation of sap well use and maintenance by the Glossy Flowerpiercer (Diglossa lafresnayii) (Thraupidae).(Report): An article from: The Wilson Journal of Ornithology

by Paul R. Martin, Frances Bonier, Ignacio T. Moore

This digital document is an article from The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, published by Wilson Ornithological Society on March 1, 2009. The length of the article is 2160 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the We report observations of a Glossy Flowerpiercer (Diglossa lafresnayii, Thraupidae) using and maintaining sap wells on three shrubs ( Baccharis arbutifolia) on the east slope of the Ecuadorian Andes. The flowerpiercer rotated among shrubs in a trapline fashion, licking and drinking sap and dragging its hooked upper mandible, and possibly also its lower mandible, along the wounds in the Baccharis trunks, presumably to keep sap flowing. This represents, to our knowledge, the first description of sap well use and maintenance in the Thraupidae.

Citation Details
First observation of sap well use and maintenance by the Glossy Flowerpiercer (Diglossa lafresnayii) (Thraupidae).(Report)
Paul R. Martin
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (Magazine/Journal)
March 1, 2009
Wilson Ornithological Society
121 1 213(3)

Article Report

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning

8 pages, ebook

Published March 1, 2009

About the author

Paul Martin was educated at Cambridge University and at Stanford University, California, where he was Harkness Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences. He lectured and researched in behavioural biology at Cambridge University, and was a Fellow of Wolfson College, before leaving academia to pursue other interests including science writing.