One should not forget one of, if not the main beneficiary of Mistletoe, the Mistletoebird. No Mistletoe, no Mistletoebirds. Carl Clifford =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
|
||||
3 comments to The value of Mistletoe |
||||
Interesting subject and apologies to the list for the delayed reply. Two or three years ago around Christmas time (dates and details available off list if of interest) I was birding near Binya State Forest north of Leeton NSW in a patch of Mulga heavily infested with Mistletoe. To my surprise there were several families of Superb Parrots with loudly begging young feeding in the bunches of Mistletoe – not on flowers or fruit but on fresh young leaves. The females were thoroughly chewing the young shoots before feeding the young who were certainly keen on the diet. They must be nutritious indeed. Best Graeme Stevens =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
That’s why there are no Mistletoebirds in Tasmania Regards Shirley Cook —– Original Message —– Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 11:19 AM =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
There seems to be a different relationship between possums and mistletoes and that of some bird species and mistletoes. As far as I can tell the definitive work (cited by David Watson in his paper on Mistletoes as a Keystone resource) on the topic is by Nick Reid “Pollination and seed dispersal of Mistletoes (Loranthaceae by birds in Southern Australia” which forms a chapter in “The Dynamic Partnership Birds and Plants in Southern Australia” by H A Ford and D C Payton. While several species of birds appear to potentially act as pollinators and/or seed dispersers Reid notes on p78 the possums “.. tend to destroy flowers when feeding and are better regarded as flower predators than pollinators.”. He makes a similar comment about parrots and lorikeets (op cit p68) Martin On 15 August 2013 10:43, Philip Veerman < pveerman@pcug.org.au> wrote: — Martin Butterfield http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/ =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================