01 June, 2018

Specialist nectarivorous birds (Cinnyris osea) steal nectar whereas omnivorous birds are pollen transfer vectors of Anagyris foetida

The Palestine Sunbird

by Ron Haran, Ido Izhaki, Amots Dafni

Morphological mismatch between flower and visitor can lead to nectar theft, which is the consumption of nectar from flowers without contributing to its pollination. Specialized nectar-feeding (nectarivorous) birds have several morphological characteristics that enable them to act as legitimate pollinators. The Mediterranean Stinkbush (Anagyris foetida) is an ornithophilous plant that flowers in winter. Resident and wintering omnivorous bird species, (having a diet that includes significant amounts of both plant and animal food) together with Honeybees (Apis mellifera), were found to carry the shrub’s pollen throughout its long flowering period in Israel and thus might be legitimate pollinators. 


Read the whole summary in: English!
Read the scientific publication in JPE.
 

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