Double mutualism: Dual rewards or redundancy? Insights from the interactions between mistletoes and their avian partners in the tropical hotspot of Southwest China

Mistletoes, recognized as keystone species, supply plentiful floral and fruit resources for birds, thereby facilitating mutualistic interactions in pollination and seed dispersal. Some avian species are “double mutualists”, engaging in both functions. However, their precise roles and effectiveness as mutualists remain inadequately understood. In this study, we conducted 690 hours of video-recorded observations of avian pollinators and dispersers of the mistletoe species Dendrophthoe pentandra (Loranthaceae) across three sites in the seasonal tropical forests of Xishuangbanna, a biodiversity hotspot in Southwest China. We also performed a phylogenetic analysis of avian traits, including beak length, body length, and body mass. Our findings documented a total of 833 visits by 13 bird species from 8 families, with 11 species probing flowers (528 visits) and 7 species consuming fruits (43 visits). Three species – Dicaeum minullum, D. ignipectus, and Zosterops simplex – were identified as do..., , # Data from: Double mutualism: Dual rewards or redundancy? Insights from the interactions between mistletoes and their avian partners in the tropical hotspot of Southwest China

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.nvx0k6f48](10.5061/dryad.nvx0k6f48)

## Description of the data and file structure

host_mistletoe: dataset from section *Biological traits and reproductive phenology of mistletoe* of MATERIAL AND METHODS

Raw_visit: dataset from section *Visitation of avian pollinators and frugivores* of MATERIAL AND METHODS

fruit_crop_size: dataset from section *Fruit crop size and quantity of seeds removed* of MATERIAL AND METHODS

mistletoe_bird_trait: dataset from section *Flower, fruit and bird morphology* of MATERIAL AND METHODS

passerine: phylogeny from section *Phylogenetic relationships and ancestral state reconstruction of birds* of MATERIAL AND METHODS

### Files and variables

#### File: host_mistletoe.xlsx

**Description:** contains columns with data on the following:

##### Variables
...,