Diets of Land Birds from Northeastern Venezuela

We estimate diets of 68 bird species inhabiting dry seasonal habitats and mangroves of northeastern Venezuela, based on 3,419 birds forced to regurgitate using tartar emetic. Most birds were generalist feeders, including a wide variety of both invertebrate and plant taxa in their diet. Coleopterans, ants, and insect larvae were the most frequent invertebrate preys. Hummingbirds had low nectar intakes and differed from other species by feeding extensively on small soft-bodied arthropods. Most species fed on fruits to a variable extent. Actually, several species tended to be more frugivorous at our study sites than in previous reports.