New World wood warblers (Parulidae) represent one of the most dramatic adaptive radiations in North America. However, the ecological bases for the morphological differences among these species remain poorly understood, especially considering how many foraging and habitat studies the family has inspired. We hypothesized the existence of relationships between parulid morphology and diet. We combined a principal component analysis (PCA) of 18 external morphological traits of 11 species of warblers with stomach‐content data from coexisting species in one breeding community in Louisiana and three wintering communities in Jamaica. The primary morphological differences, corresponding with the first three PCA axes, were body size, morphological adaptations for aerial foraging versus gleaning, and arboreal versus ground‐foraging adaptations. Our analysis revealed little morphological overlap among the 11 species. Differences in diet among the warblers showed a significant relationship to the first two PCA axes of morphological traits. For five coexisting, foliage‐gleaning species wintering in Jamaican wet limestone forest, larger warblers ate larger beetles and Orthopterans but not larger ants. In analyses including all four communities, species of warblers with aerial foraging morphologies consumed a greater proportion of winged insects than other warbler species. These findings document prey selection relevant to multiple subtle morphological differences among coexisting species. Overall, our results indicate that food and foraging have likely played an integral role in the morphological diversification and coexistence of species in the family Parulidae.

中文翻译：

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形态特征通过新世界莺（Parulidae）的共存物种影响猎物的选择

新世界的木材莺（Parulidae）代表了北美最引人注目的适应性辐射之一。但是，对于这些物种之间形态差异的生态基础仍然知之甚少，特别是考虑到该家庭启发了多少觅食和栖息地研究。我们假设存在颗粒形态和饮食之间的关系。我们将11种莺的18种外部形态特征的主成分分析（PCA）与路易斯安那州一个繁殖社区和牙买加三个越冬社区同时存在的物种的胃含量数据相结合。与前三个PCA轴相对应的主要形态学差异是体型大小，空中觅食与采摘的形态适应性，树栖与地面觅食的适应性。我们的分析显示，这11个物种之间几乎没有形态重叠。鸣莺之间饮食的差异与形态特征的前两个PCA轴显着相关。对于牙买加湿lime的石灰岩森林中越冬并存的五种同叶采摘物种，较大的莺吃较大的甲虫和直翅目昆虫，但不食用较大的蚂蚁。在包括所有四个群落在内的分析中，具有空中觅食形态的鸣鸟物种比其他鸣鸟物种消耗的有翼昆虫的比例更大。这些发现证明了与共存物种之间的多种细微形态差异有关的猎物选择。总的来说，我们的结果表明，食物和觅食可能在鹦鹉科的物种形态多样化和共存中起了不可或缺的作用。