Relationships between Swida controversa fruit phenology and fruit removal behaviors of frugivorous birds

Abstract The behavior of frugivorous birds during the removal of fruit from Swida controversa was investigated to compare the relationships between measures of fruit maturation and quantitative fruit removal behavior of birds. Bird exclusion devices were used on some branches to allow comparison of the traits of removed and un-removed fruits. Nine bird species visited S. controversa, but only four removed fruit, and each bird species removed a different number of fruits per visit. Only 11.5% of a branch's fruits were removed by birds. Birds removed only larger, blacker, more mature fruits, suggesting birds were effective seed dispersers.