The birds and the bees… and the rats? How ship rats could be pollinators

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-02-02 03:00

New Zealand

PHOTO: JJ BOUJOT (2013)

New research has found that rats may enjoy eating floral nectar in addition to seeds, putting them in competition with NZ's native birds and helping some flowers pollinate. Researchers set up cameras in a Canterbury wetland area and captured video evidence of ship rats appearing to munch on mountain flax nectar in the middle of the night. Flax nectar is an important food for tūi and bellbirds, and rats eating it during the night might mean there’s none left for these birds in the daytime, especially during and after booms in the rat population. The researchers say rats may have a widespread but currently underappreciated role as nectar competitors and pollinators, and more attention should be paid to this phenomenon.

Media release

From:

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Journal of Ecology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Rice University, US

Funder: This work was supported by the Strategic Science Investment Funding for Crown Research Institutes from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, National Geographic Early Career Grant, and a Wagoner Foreign Study Scholarship through Rice University.

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