Download Campsis radicans

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Hummingbirds and
Flowers: A Study of
Co-adaptive
Relationships
What is a hummingbird?
• Order Apodiformes,
Family Trochilidae
• Distribution
• Physical Characteristics
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Weight
Body length
Bill length and shape
Tongue
Coloration
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Diet and Metabolism
Unusual Flying Abilities
Breeding
Nesting
Migration
Hover
Did you know?
Hummingbirds are
the only birds that
can fly backwards.
Forward
Backward
Flower Pollination Overview
• Angiosperms are the
flowering plants.
• Their seeds are enclosed
in an ovary, in this case
the fruit.
• Flowers are leaves and
stems which are modified
for reproduction.
• In order for reproduction
to occur, there has to be
pollination.
Plants use two methods of pollination
• Wind pollination
– In wind pollination, plants release a
large amount of pollen into the air in
hopes that it will reach a receptive
flower. Because wind pollination is
imperfect, a lot of pollen is wasted.
– The pollens that cause people to have
allergies are from wind-pollinated
plants (ex. oak and ragweed).
• Animal-aided pollination
– In animal aided pollination, an animal
transfers pollen from one flower to
another.
– Any nectar eating animal, from birds
to kinkajous to bats, can potentially
carry pollen from flower to flower.
– The main kind of animal pollinators is
insects.
Plants have developed many ways to get
animals to aid in their fertilization and in
seed dispersal
• Food
– Nectar
– Pollen
– Fruit
• Physical characteristics
– Color
– Smell
– Shape
Plant Reproductive Parts
Stigma: flat surface
that receives pollen
Anther: pollen bearing,
supported by filament
Filament:
long, stalklike structure
Style: tube
connecting stigma
to ovary
Ovary: place of
fertilization and seed
development; forms
the fruit.
Petal: modified leaf,
attracts pollinators
Sepal: cover and protect
flower bud
Stamen: male reproductive parts
Pistil: Female reproductive parts
Fertilization
• When pollen makes contact with the stigma, a
tube called the pollen tube grows down through
the style pushing the plant sperm nuclei (there
are 2) with it.
• Double fertilization occurs; not only is the egg
fertilized, but another set of cells is fertilized.
– The fertilized egg produces a zygote, which develops
into the plant embryo.
– The second set of cells grows into what becomes the
food that the embryonic plant uses while in the seed.
Plant-Animal Co-adaptation
• The mutual influence of two
different species interacting with
each other and influencing each
other’s adaptations over time.
• The shape of the flowers that a
hummingbird visits and the shape
of the hummingbird’s bill are an
example of coadaptation.
– Long tubular flowers have nectar producing
structures all the way at the base of the flower.
– The hummingbird must insert its bill into the
flower’s tube.
– The stamens of the flower are long, and project
out of the flower.
– When the hummingbird goes to lap up the nectar
with its tongue, the pollen on the anthers rubs
onto the hummingbird’s forehead.
– The hummingbird goes from plant to plant,
transferring pollen and fertilizing the flowers.
Trumpet Creeper/Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird Co-adaptation:
The Hummingbird
• Archilochus colubris
• Name “hummingbird”
came from the sound of
this bird’s wings in flight
(click on the sound icon)
• Distribution
• Physical Characteristics
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Weight
Body length
Culmen length and shape
Coloration
Trumpet Creeper/Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird Co-adaptation:
The Hummingbird
• Diet
• Breeding
–Sound of males
vocalizing
(click on the sound
icon)
• Nesting
• Migration
Trumpet Creeper/Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird Co-adaptation:
the Hummingbird
• The ruby-throated hummingbird has many adaptations to
feed on the trumpet creeper.
– The ruby-throat has a long, straight bill.
• This is adapted to fit into the tubular flowers that it gets its nectar from.
– The ruby-throat’s migration coincides with the flowering of the trumpet
creeper.
– The forehead of the ruby-throat is a perfect angle and height to come
into contact with the anthers and the stigma.
– The tongue of the ruby-throat is long, and has a bifurcated (forked)
ending
• A long tongue helps the ruby-throat lap up the nectar at the base of the
flower.
• A forked tongue has more surface area with which to draw up nectar
– The metabolism of the hummingbird is very high, so it prefers flowers
which produce large amounts of nectar.
Trumpet Creeper/Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird Co-adaptation: The Plant
• Campsis radicans, Family
Bigoniaceae, order
Scrophulariales
• Although the ruby-throated
hummingbird can feed on
many different flowers, the
trumpet creeper is highly
dependent on the bird for
pollination.
– Some bee pollination occurs,
but not much.
– Unlike many flowers, the
trumpet creeper cannot selfpollinate very well.
Trumpet Creeper/Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird Co-adaptation: The Plant
• The trumpet creeper has many specialized adaptations for
hummingbird pollination.
– The flower produces no scent
• Scent production in flowers is mainly used to attract insect pollinators.
• Because the trumpet creeper does not want to attract insects, it does not produce a scent.
– There is no landing platform
• Insects need a landing platform in order to feed on the nectar, for the most part, they
cannot hover and feed.
• The ruby-throated hummingbird hovers while extracting nectar; it does not need a platform.
– The anthers and stigma are positioned so as to contact the forehead of
the ruby-throat.
• They are angled to point upwards
• Although insects may come into the flower, they rarely reach the stigma. If they do, they
mainly deposit the flower’s own pollen.
– The color of the flower is dark orange
• Hummingbirds frequent red and orange flowers more than other colors
• Red and orange colors are not obvious to bees and other insects; these colors blend in
with the background foliage. Because insects rely on ultraviolet reflectivity to find flowers
and red has such low ultraviolet reflectivity, insects cannot “see” red.
• Birds, on the other hand, see red very well, and learn to associate this color with lots of
nectar.
– The flowers produce a high concentration of nectar which the
hummingbird needs to survive.
Quiz Time!
• On a sheet of paper, tell me which of
the following flowers a hummingbird
might visit and then explain your
answer.
– Don’t forget to note flower shape, color, location of
the flower’s reproductive parts (if you can locate
them), where the nectar is housed (hint: at the base of
the flower), and the presence or absence of a landing
platform (hint: note the location of the flower opening
relative to the ground)!
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Text References
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Bertin, Robert. Floral Biology, Hummingbird Pollination and Fruit Production of
Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans, Bigoniaceae). 1982. American Journal
of Botany. 69(1). 122-134.
Elias, Thomas and Gelband, Hellen. 1976. Morphology and Anatomy of Floral and
Extrafloral Nectaries in Campsis (Bigoniaceae). American Journal of Botany.
63(10). 1349-1353.
Essenfeld, Bernice and Gontang, Carol ad Moore, Randy, ed. 1996. Biology.
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company., Menlo Park, California.
Grant, Karen and Grant, Verne. 1968. Hummingbirds and Their Flowers. Columbia
University Press, New York, New York.
Greenewalt, Crawford. Hummingbirds. 1960. Doubleday & Company, Inc, Garden
City, New York.
Hilton, Bill Jr. 2004. Operation RubyThroat. Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont
Natural History. Accessed November 15, 2004.
Johnsgard, Paul. 1983. The Hummingbirds of North America. Smithsonian
Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Raven, Peter. 1972. Why are Bird-visited flowers Predominantly Red? Evolution
26(4) 674.
Skutch, Alexander. 1973. The Life of the Hummingbird. Crown Publishers, Inc.
New York, New York.
USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service, Wildlife Habitat Management
Institute, Wildlife Habitat Council. 1999. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
(Archilochus colubris) Fish and Wildlife Habitat Management Leaflet no. 14.
Image References
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Ed Pivorun
Patrick McMillan
C.J. Geraci
Jim Stasz, Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
– http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/rubythroated_hummingbird.htm
• Bill Hilton Jr. and Operation RubyThroat
– http://www.rubythroat.org/
• US Fish and Wildlife Service Image Library
– http://www.fws.gov
• Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia
– http://www.wikipedia.org
• Flight diagram redrawn by Jennie Kill Bowden from The
Life of the Hummingbird Skutch, 1973
• Flower anatomy diagram drawn by Jennie Kill Bowden