Atypical Flowers Can Be as Profitable as Typical Hummingbird Flowers
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2019-09-12
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Final Published version
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Sch Nat Resources & EnvironmIssue Date
2018-11Keywords
floral phenotypeforaging behavior
hummingbird energy budgets
hummingbird time budgets
nectar quantity
western North America
Metadata
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UNIV CHICAGO PRESSCitation
Nickolas M. Waser, Paul J. CaraDonna, and Mary V. Price, "Atypical Flowers Can Be as Profitable as Typical Hummingbird Flowers," The American Naturalist 192, no. 5 (November 2018): 644-653. https://doi.org/10.1086/699836Journal
AMERICAN NATURALISTRights
© 2018 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
In western North America, hummingbirds can be observed systematically visiting flowers that lack the typical reddish color, tubular morphology, and dilute nectar of hummingbird flowers. Curious about this behavior, we asked whether these atypical flowers are energetically profitable for hummingbirds. Our field measurements of nectar content and hummingbird foraging speeds, taken over four decades at multiple localities, show that atypical flowers can be as profitable as typical ones and suggest that the profit can support 24-h metabolic requirements of the birds. Thus, atypical flowers may contribute to successful migration of hummingbirds, enhance their population densities, and allow them to occupy areas seemingly depauperate in suitable resources. These results illustrate what can be gained by attending to the unexpected.Note
12 month embargo; published online: 12 September 2018ISSN
0003-01471537-5323
PubMed ID
30332579DOI
10.1086/699836Version
Final published versionAdditional Links
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/699836ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1086/699836