Feijoa sellowiana(Myrtaceae) was studied under cultivation in New Zealand, California, and Japan, to determine which floral visitors are the most effective pollinators. A large range of insects and birds visited feijoa flowers to collect pollen or feed on the sugary petals. Estimation of pollen deposited on stigmas showed that only large birds deposited sufficient compatible pollen to initiate fruit development. An exclusion experiment confirmed this. Observations of the behaviour and size of the floral visitors explained why insects and smaller birds are ineffective pollen vectors. In orchards with high densities of large birds, flowers were visited at earlier stages but, even at lower densities, visits were sufficient to ensure pollination. In orchards that lacked birds, fruit set was minimal. Bird visitation was greater at the edges of blocks and, in large blocks, fruit set was significantly lower in the centre of the block. Studies of animal movements indicated that large birds such as blackbirds (Turdus merula) and mynas (Acridotheres tristis) were the most efficient cross pollinators. Specific recommendations to growers are that large birds should be encouraged, honey bees should not be put in feijoa blocks, varieties should be interplanted within the row and blocks should be small (<0.5ha).