Avian granivores consume flowers, not just seed, of the Top End Bamboo Bambusa arnhemica

Abstract

Bambusa arnemica, a bamboo endemic to the north-western Top End of the Northern Territory, flowers gregariously at intervals of c. 40-50 years and seeds prolifically (Franklin, 2004). Simple or compound branches up to 2.5 m long bear clusters (inflorescences) of pseudospikelets at each node. In this note, I report observations, obtained in the course of studies of B. arnhemica flowering behaviour, of birds consuming plant material from the inforescences of B. arnhemica.