The Status of Fruits Consumed by Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsypetes amaurotis) as a Seed Dispersal Agent on Jeju Island

Plants and birds have symbiotic relationship as the birds eat the fruits and disperse its seeds from the different places. Because Brown-eared Bulbul eats various fruits, We investigated the fruits consumed by Brown-eared Bulbul and the distribution of these seeds. Surveys were conducted at several area throughout Jeju Island at least twice a month from 2013 to 2014. We identified the fruits consumed by Brown-eared Bulbul through observation, pictures and interviews from the local residents. Results showed that this species consumed fruits from 82 plant species, belonging to 38 plant families. Thirty nine percent(39%) of these plant species belong to the Rosaceae, Lauraceae, Moraceae, Aquifoliaceae and Vitaceae and 33 species were classified as warm-temperate and subtropical plant which is 40% of the total plant species consumed. Two feeding types, which were gulper type and pecking type were observed for the Brown-eared Bulbul. It was also observed that this species preferred eating fruits of gulping type compared to that of pecking type. The average size of the fruits consumed through gulping was $8.92{\pm}3.41mm$ while it was $45.25{\pm}26.67mm$ for the pecker type. This bird species also consumed more fruits with globular shape compared to those of fruits with ellipse shape. For the fruit color, red and black-colored fruits were more preferred than yellow-colored fruits by Brown-eared Bulbul. Eaten frequency varied from 0.04 to 0.58 and the 10 fruits species were eaten frequently by Brown-eared Bulbul. This study would provide information for the role of Brown-eared Bulbul in the ecosystem as a seed dispersal agent.

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