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| 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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