When an animal is observed visiting a flower, we tend to think of it as a mutualistic interaction, in which both participants benefit to some degree. However, not all such interactions are mutualisms, as in instances where one partner (the animal) benefits at the expense of the other partner (the plant). In pollination ecology, the lopsided beneficiaries of interactions like these are called nectar “robbers” or “thieves”. This seems to be the case for the bananaquit (Coereba flaveola), a member of the tanager family, seen here in a backyard in the city of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, consuming nectar from immature non-native Ixora flowers. Although bananaquits occasionally pierce mature flowers from the side to rob nectar (Sci Rep 2022; doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16237-9), the bird pictured here is mechanically opening a closed immature flower with its beak to access the nectar. Does the premature opening of a flower affect its development and the plant's reproductive success? Here, the bananaquit could be considered a nectar thief because of the temporal mismatch, given that the flower's pollen is unavailable or nonviable. Has this behavior spread through the local population of bananaquits, and how did it emerge? Is it a learned behavior by the bananaquit having observed a conspecific or else a different species? Is it a spontaneous behavior that arose independently in certain individuals? Physically opening an immature flower might represent a previously undocumented form of thieving. Further investigations are necessary to determine the relative gains and losses associated with this type of animal–plant interaction.

当观察到一只动物参观一朵花时，我们倾向于将其视为一种互惠互利的互动，双方都在某种程度上受益。然而，并非所有此类相互作用都是互利共生，例如一个伙伴（动物）以牺牲另一个伙伴（植物）的利益为代价的情况。在授粉生态学中，此类相互作用的不平衡受益者被称为花蜜“强盗”或“小偷”。巴西圣保罗坎皮纳斯市后院的唐纳雀家族成员香蕉奎特（ Coereba flaveola ）似乎就是这种情况，它正在吸食未成熟的非本地龙船花的花蜜。尽管香蕉偶尔会从侧面刺穿成熟的花朵以获取花蜜（Sci Rep 2022；doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16237-9），但图中的鸟正在用喙机械地打开闭合的未成熟花朵以获取花蜜。花朵过早开放是否会影响其发育和植物的繁殖成功？在这里，由于时间不匹配，香蕉树可以被认为是花蜜窃贼，因为花的花粉不可用或无法存活。这种行为是否在当地香蕉戒烟人群中传播开来？它是如何出现的？这是香蕉在观察同种动物或不同物种后习得的行为吗？它是某些个体独立出现的自发行为吗？物理地打开一朵未成熟的花可能代表一种以前未记录的盗窃形式。有必要进行进一步的研究来确定与这种动植物相互作用相关的相对收益和损失。