Macroecological patterns of resource use in resident and migratory hummingbirds

DNA metabarcoding diet analysis in a generalist omnivore: feeding trials reveal the efficacy of extraction kits and a multi-locus approach for identifying diverse diets

Metabarcoding-based diet analysis is a valuable tool for understanding the feeding behavior of a wide range of species. However, many studies using these methods for wild animals assume accuracy and precision without experimental evaluation with known positive control food items. Here, we conducted a feeding trial experiment with a positive control community in pasture-raised chickens and assessed the efficacy of several commonly used DNA extraction kits and primer sets. We hand-fed 22 known food items, including insects and plants, to six backyard laying hens and collected their excreta for eight h. We evaluated the efficacy of three DNA extraction kits, three primer sets for plant identification (targeting rbcL, trnL, and internal transcribed spacer 2 [ITS2]), and three primer sets for arthropod identification (targeting cytochrome oxidase subunit I [COI]). The detection success rate of our positive control food items was highly variable, ranging from 2.04% to 93.88% for all kit/primer combinations and averaging 37.35% and 43.57% for the most effective kit/primer combination for plants and insects, respectively. Extraction kits using bead-based homogenization positively affected the recovery proportion of plant and insect DNA in excreta samples. The minimum time to detect known food items was 44 min post-feeding. Two COI primer sets significantly outperformed the third, and both recovery proportion and taxonomic resolution from ITS2 were significantly higher than those from rbcL and trnL. Taken together, these results display the potential variability that can be inherently present in DNA-based diet analyses and highlight the utility of experimental feeding trials in validating such approaches, particularly for omnivores with diverse diets.

Hummingbird foraging preferences during extreme heat events

Climate change is projected to increase global mean annual temperatures as well as the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events. These changes are anticipated to alter the behavior of animals as they seek to thermoregulate in extreme heat. An important area of research is understanding how mutualistic interactions between animals and plants, such as pollination, will be affected by the cascading effects of extreme heat on animal foraging behavior. In this study, we used an experimental and observational approach to quantify the effects of extreme heat on hummingbird foraging preferences for nectar sources in shady versus sunny microsites. We also quantified pollen deposition using artificial stigmas at these sites to quantify potential cascading effects on plant reproduction. We hypothesized that hummingbirds would respond to extreme heat by preferentially foraging in shady microsites, and that this would reduce pollen deposition in sunny microsites on hot days. We found little support for this hypothesis, instead hummingbirds preferred to forage in sunny microsites regardless of ambient temperature. We also found weak evidence for higher pollen deposition in sunny microsites on hot days.