Título corto 1 ANARTIA Publicación del Museo de Biología de la Universidad del Zulia ISSN 1315-642X (impresa) / ISSN 2665-0347 (digital) Anartia, 31 (diciembre 2020): 1-15 Birds at a feeder in an urban garden in Venezuela: Abundances, interactions and fruit preferences Pájaros en un comedero de un jardín urbano en Venezuela: abundancias, interacciones y preferencias de frutas Andrés E. Seijas 1 & Sara F. Seijas-Falkenhagen 2 1 Universidad Nacional de los Llanos Occidentales “Ezequiel Zamora” (UNELLEZ), Guanare, Portuguesa, Venezuela. aeseijas@gmail.com 2 Gaspar de Orense 828, Quinta Normal, Santiago, Chile. sarafseijas@gmail.com Correspondence: A. E. Seijas: aeseijas@gmail.com (Recibido: xx-11-2020 /Aceptado: xx-12-2020 /On line: xx-01-2021) ABSTRACT From December 2019 to May 2020 the birds visiting a feeder with fruits were recorded. Six trials were performed, varying the location of the feeder (at open sky or under a tree canopy) or the two pieces of fruits ofered (selected among banana, plantain, papaya or mango), which were placed in contact in the center of the feeder or separated toward its corners. Te video recordings were watched to identify and quantify the number of species and individuals visiting the feeder and their fruit preferences. Te hierarchies and the degree of exclusivity (monopoly) in the use of the feeder (%Exc) were analyzed to determine their relationships with the weight of the birds. Te efects of the placing of the fruit pieces and of the feeder itself on the frequency of visits were also analyzed. Sixteen species went down to the feeder for a total of 2493 visits. Te Blue-gray Tanager, the Pale-breasted Trush, and the Tropical Mockingbird jointly represented 66% of the total time spent at the feeder, whereas eight species together represented less than 10% of that time. Te frequency of visits (v/h) and the time spent at the feeder per recording hour (min/h) varied widely among trails. Tere was a positive correlation of the hierarchies and the %Exc with the weight of the birds (n=12; r s = 0.745, P =0.005, y r s = 0.731, P =0.007, respectively). Te v/h increased when the pieces of fruits were located separated in the feeder but were not afected by the position of the feeder. When two types of fruits were ofered simultaneously to the birds, always three or more species showed preference for one of them. Te frequency of visits and the time spent at the feeder by each species varied widely depending on the fruit ofered and hierarchical interrelations among the birds. Keywords: feeder, feeding preferences, interspecifc interactions, Neotropics, urban birds. RESUMEN Desde diciembre 2019 a mayo 2020 se grabaron en video las aves visitantes a un comedero provisto con dos trozos de fruta (seleccionadas entre banana, plátano, papaya o mango). Se realizaron seis pruebas en las que se varió la ubicación del come- dero (a sol abierto o debajo de la copa de un árbol) y la disposición de dos trozos de fruta o (juntos o separados). Las graba- ciones se revisaron para identifcar y cuantifcar las especies e individuos visitantes, la frecuencia y duración de las visitas y las preferencias por fruta ofrecida. Se analizó la correlación entre las jerarquías de las especies y la exclusividad (monopolio) en el uso del comedero (%Exc) con el peso de las especies, así como la relación entre la tasa de visitas por hora (v/h) y la ubicación de las frutas y del comedero. Dieciséis especies bajaron al comedero con un total de 2.493 visitas. El Azulejo, la Paraulata Montañera y la Paraulata Llanera en conjunto representaron 66% del tiempo de ocupación del comedero (minu- tos por hora de grabación, m/h) mientras que ocho especies en conjunto representaron menos del 10% de dicho tiempo.