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The digestion of pollen by some Australian birds
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The digestion of pollen by some Australian birds

R.D. Wooller, K.C. Richardson and C.M. Pagendham
Australian Journal of Zoology, Vol.36(4), pp.357-362
1988
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Abstract

About one-third of all banksia pollen grains excreted 1-2 hours after ingestion by captive New Holland honeyeaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), zebra finches (Poephila guttata) and budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), had lost their protoplasmic contents. Most pollen passed through the digestive systems of these birds in 4-5 hours and up to 44% of grains were digested. The faeces of wild purple- crowned lorikeets (Glossopsitta porphyrocephala) showed a similar proportion of empty grains. In the budgerigar, honeyeater and lorikeet, loss of contents of pollen grains occurred, not in the stomach, but progressively along the intestine.

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Source: InCites

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Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.64 Phylogenetics & Genomics
3.64.612 Pollination
Web Of Science research areas
Zoology
ESI research areas
Plant & Animal Science
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