The Structures of the Gastrointestinal Tracts of Honeyeaters and Other Small Birds in Relation to Their Diets

Abstract

Honeyeaters, with a diet of nectar and small, soft-bodied insects, had smaller, less muscular gizzards and shorter intestines than insect-eating birds of comparable body size from the same area of Western Australia. Stomach width was correlated with body weight in insectivores but not in the more nectarivorous honeyeaters. Intestine length increased with increase in body weight in both insectivores and nectarivores.