Hummingbird (Aves: Trochilidae) assemblage using resources from the exotic African tuliptree, Spathodea campanulata (Bignoniaceae) in a Neotropical altered environment, southeastern Brazil.

V R A Pimenta,M G Reis,M M Dias

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.223723

Abstract

The non-native African tuliptree, Spathodea campanulata (P. Beauv), is widely distributed in altered Neotropical environments, where hummingbirds are important pollinators. We investigated the assemblage of hummingbirds which fed on its nectar and described their behavior, to understand possible influences of the exotic tree on the territorial behavior in an altered environment in southeastern Brazil. Seven species fed on flower resources, mainly Eupetomena macroura (Gmelin, 1788), Amazilia lactea (Lesson, 1832), and Florisuga fusca (Vieillot, 1817). Visiting time was positive correlated with number of flowers accessed, but in most visits, hummingbirds get the nectar by pillage, instead of frontal access. Flower availability varied throughout months; however, we found no evidence of significative correlation between available flowers and number of agonistic encounters. Despite a high number of animal-plant interactions and a strong territorialism of some species observed in African tuliptree foraging site, there may be other plants at local scale influencing the behavioral patterns observed.

Highlights

Due to morphology, physiology, and mainly the flight style of hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae), a large amount of energy resource is necessary to supply their high metabolic rates (Wolf and Hainsworth, 1971; Cole et al, 1982; Suarez et al, 1986; Suarez and Gass, 2002; Fleming et al, 2004; Woodward et al, 2005; González-Gómez et al, 2015)
We investigated the assemblage of hummingbirds which fed on its nectar and described their behavior, to understand possible influences of the exotic tree on the territorial behavior in an altered environment in southeastern Brazil
The seven Trochilidae species that fed on Spathodea campanulata flower resources are commonly found in different types of Neotropical ecosystems, including urban environments (Mendonça and Anjos, 2006; Previatto et al, 2013; Mendes et al, 2018)

Summary

Introduction

Physiology, and mainly the flight style of hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae), a large amount of energy resource is necessary to supply their high metabolic rates (Wolf and Hainsworth, 1971; Cole et al, 1982; Suarez et al, 1986; Suarez and Gass, 2002; Fleming et al, 2004; Woodward et al, 2005; González-Gómez et al, 2015). In order to acquire floral nectar, this group of birds have. 1 pp.137143 developed a series of behavioral strategies to maximize the input rate of energy with a minimum of energy cost (Carpenter, 1978; Justino et al, 2012; Makino, 2013; Maruyama et al, 2016). Those sets of strategies are known as foraging behavior (Krebs and Davies, 1996). The flower distribution, nutrition quality and nectar availability offered by flowering plant species, and the

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