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Re: Amsonia pollinators, bird notes, 4/20/03--Durham NC



Insects can see well into UV, but not red. Some red flowers flowers may
attract insects because of their "color" in UV. Holly flowers are green to
our eyes & are scarcely distinguishable from the leaves..but in UV
reflectance they stand out, "brightly" Birds also see near UV..so it is not
easy to understand what the birds & the bees see.

-- Helmut C Mueller

409 Moonridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Phone: 919-942-4937

Permanent email address: hmueller@email.unc.edu


> From: "gary" <walela@sccoast.net>
> Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 20:59:28 -0400
> To: "Patrick Coin" <patrick@coinconsult.net>, <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
> Subject: Re: Amsonia pollinators, bird notes, 4/20/03--Durham NC
> 
> on 04-20-2003 at 18:20, Patrick wrote:
> 
>> #4 was quite a surprise. The flower is a light blue, not generally
> considered attractive to hummingbirds. (I read in a reference on flower
> pollination that red was mostly attractive to hummingbirds because insects
> are NOT attracted to it.)<
> 
> hmmmm...guess the Carpenter bees and Cloudless Sulphur butterflies here
> haven't read that reference (the sulphurs seem particularly attracted to
> red, even using the hummer feeders filled with clear solution here and at my
> workplace in Georgetown Cty.)
> 
> one of the favored hummer plants i grow (perhaps the most favored) is Blue
> Brazilian Sage (Salvia guaranitica.) it has dark blue blooms and produces
> nectar with a relatively high sugar content (there are several cultivars
> ranging from sky blue to purple.) hummers are highly inquisitive and
> opportunistic little birds, and will investigate ANY flower bloom, as much
> for insect prey as for nectar. they also appear to have amazing temporal and
> spatial memory.
> 
> research published in the late-60's pertaining to primarily hummer
> pollinated plants offered something to the effect that the birds and a
> number of red flowers might have co-evolved because the color more readily
> stands out against the green foliage, making the food source more
> noticeable, esp. for migrating birds.
> 
> like the majority of other Neo-trops that breed in North America though,
> hummers have gotta have the bugs. they can live for a short while on just
> nectar, but soon their bodies begin to "cannabilize" themselves.
> 
> cheers,
> gary
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Patrick Coin" <patrick@coinconsult.net>
> To: <carolinaleps@duke.edu>; <natural-history@duke.edu>;
> <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
> Cc: <coinp@dtcc.cc.nc.us>
> Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2003 6:20 PM
> Subject: Amsonia pollinators, bird notes, 4/20/03--Durham NC
> 
> 
>> I have a nice bunch of blooming Blue Star, Amsonia tabernaemontana
>> (Apocynaceae, also called Blue Dogbane) in my garden here in Durham. I've
>> been testing a digital camera on the flowers, so have paid some attention
> to
>> insects and other critters visiting it. These have included:
>> 1-ants
>> 2-small black bee/wasp (looks like a bee to me)
>> 3-Snowberry Clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis)
>> 4-Ruby-throated Hummingbird--visited briefly, seemed to get some nectar as
>> it buzzed from flower to flower
>> 
>> #4 was quite a surprise. The flower is a light blue, not generally
>> considered attractive to hummingbirds. (I read in a reference on flower
>> pollination that red was mostly attractive to hummingbirds because insects
>> are NOT attracted to it.)
>> 
>> The ant didn't have much luck getting into the flower very far. Looking at
>> the digital photos, I noticed that the entrance to the corolla is guarded
>> with a ring of stiff hairs. Perhaps this serves to keep ants out? The moth
>> inserted its proboscis, and the hummingbird its beak, quite easily.
>> 
>> Nice to know that this attractive and easily cultivated native plant is a
>> good animal attractor too.
>> 
>> In other Triangle nature notes:
>> A female cardinal nesting outside my office at home is sitting tightly,
>> presumably incubating.
>> 
>> White-breasted nuthatches were feeding noisy nestlings today (4/20/03) in
> a
>> nest box in the Macedonia area (near Cary) of Wake County. This seems
> early
>> to me.
>> 
>> I heard House Wrens here in Durham and in Wake County as well. I think
> these
>> are the first I have heard this spring. One in Wake County was busy
> fiddling
>> with nest material in a box, luckily not close to the Nuthatches. (I
>> understand they frequently kill other cavity-nesters.)
>> 
>> Patrick Coin
>> Durham, NC
>> patrick@coinconsult.net
>> 
>