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Re: Amsonia pollinators, bird notes, 4/20/03--Durham NC
- To: gary <walela@sccoast.net>,Patrick Coin <patrick@coinconsult.net>, <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
- Subject: Re: Amsonia pollinators, bird notes, 4/20/03--Durham NC
- From: Helmut Mueller <hmuelle@earthlink.net>
- Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 22:30:41 -0400
- Delivered-to: pardo@metalab.unc.edu
- In-reply-to: <002d01c307a1$469b0740$11be9942@jack>
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
- User-agent: Microsoft Outlook Express Macintosh Edition - 5.01 (1630)
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
>>
>