FORAGING ECOLOGY OF PSITTACINES IN THE TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE

Between May 2004 and April 2005 we observed 15 species of psittacines foraging along transects and during fortuitous encounters in the Tambopata National Reserve. Psittacines fed on 84 plant species from 62 genera and 30 families. We report 51 plant species as new food sources for psittacines in Southeastern Peru. The greatest foraging activity took place from 6:00 h to 7:00 h. The most consumed plant part was the seed (41% of 469 foraging encounters), followed by pulp (15%), whole fruit (13%), flower (12%), aril (10%), leaves (1.5%), bark (0.6%), floral buds (0.4%) and fruit juice (0.4%). We found no preference between ripe and unripe seed consumption (48% and 47% respectively), but other fruit parts were eaten mostly ripe (more than 67%)