On the occurrence of frugivorous behavior by hummingbirds across the Americas

Hummingbirds primarily feed on floral nectar, making them important pollinators. However, we documented three cases of frugivory by hummingbirds, two in Brazil and the other in Peru. After searching, we found several instances of frugivory and seed ingestion by Trochilidae species. This suggests that these birds obtain energy from flower nectar sugars and fruit, opening new opportunities for ecological and evolutionary research in frugivory. Using research articles, photographs, and videos in citizen science repositories, our search generated records of 25 species of hummingbird in frugivory distributed throughout the American continent. We showed frugivory by hummingbirds from Canada to Chile, from sea level to thousands of meters above, and in temperatures varying widely between cold and hot. Frugivory by hummingbirds proved to be a potentially opportunistic behavior. However, it widely spread among Trochilidae clades and occurs in the American continent’s most varied habitats and climatic conditions. Future studies must elucidate aspects of the functional ecology of these interactions to understand whether they can imply mutualistic or antagonistic effects on plant reproduction.