New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts
Birds as pollinators of Australian plants
Hugh A. Ford
David C. Paton
Neville Forde
Department of Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, N.S.W., 2351, Australia
Department of Zoology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3168, Australia
School of Applied Science, Torrens College of Advanced Education, S.A., 5032, Australia
Abstract Over one hundred species of birds have been seen visiting the flowers of some 250 species of plants in Australia. Honeyeaters and lorikeets are the most persistent flower-feeders and some species depend almost entirely on nectar as a source of energy. Silvereyes, parrots, woodswallows, pardalotes, thornbills, and a few other species of passerines occasionally visit flowers. The genera most frequently visited are
Eucalyptus, Callistemon, Banksia, Grevillea, Adenanthos, Dryandra, Epacris, Astroloma, Amyema, Correa, Xanthorrhoea, Anigozanthos, and
Eremophila. Some flowers, e.g., those of
Eucalyptus, are very generalised in structure and are visited and pollinated by insects as well as birds. Other plants have shown a range of adaptations to attract birds to their flowers or deter insects. Birds require significant rewards so that flowers must produce copious nectar. Flowers are often clumped into inflorescences (e.g.,
Banksia) or individual flowers become large and tubular or gullet-shaped
(Eremophila). Flowers visited by birds are often red, though yellow
(Adenanthos) and green (e.g.,
Amyema, Correa) are common. Hairs in tubular flowers, and lack of attractive smell may deter insects without affecting birds (e.g.,
Astroloma). In Australia the relationships between birds and plants are not as specific as those shown for hummingbirds and some of their flowers in tropical America. Most species of birds visit a wide range of plants, and most plants are visited by a wide range of birds.
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1979, Vol. 17:509-19
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (984K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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