OBOLinks and TWEETERS,

In a message I sent to Mike Patterson on February 6 ("HUMMINGBIRD
MIGRATION AND FLOWERS), with copies to OBOL and TWEETERS, I referred
to an article by Jim Pojar on hummingbird flowers. However, I did not
have a copy of this 25-year-old article in front of me, and my memory
of the contents was not entirely accurate. Now that I have dug out a
copy of Pojar's article, I would like to correct some errors I made in
quoting him, and add a few more comments on hummingbirds and flowers.

The citation for the article is as follows:

Pojar, Jim. 1975. Hummingbird flowers of British Columbia. Syesis,
Vol. 8, pages 25 to 29.

(Syesis, published from 1968 to 1983, is a now-defunct journal
published by the B.C. Provincial Museum in Victoria-- now the Royal
B.C. Museum.)

I was correct in stating that Pojar listed 9 species of plants in
B.C. which appeared to be mainly hummingbird-pollinated. However, I
was NOT correct in stating that salmonberry, red-flowering currant,
and black twinberry were among these. In addition to the 9 species of
confirmed "hummingbird flowers". Pojar listed 7 additional species
which have a "mixed pollination strategy" and appear to be pollinated
about equally by hummingbirds and insects. Salmonberry and
red-flowering currant were listed among these 7 species. I may
therefore have overstated my argument about coevolution of
hummingbirds with these shrub species.
(My words: "In B.C., plants like salmonberry NEED hummingbirds. No
hummingbirds, little or no pollination, and no reproduction.") These
statements probably are true for the 9 "obligate" hummer-dependent
species listed by Pojar, but not to the same extent for salmonberry
and red-flowering currant. However, from my own (non-quantified)
observations, I would say that in southwest B.C., northbound Rufous
Hummers have a high degree of dependence on these 2 shrub species,
even if the degree of dependence of the shrubs on the hummers is not
so great. More than half of the Rufous Hummers I have seen in spring
have been feeding from, or seen in close association with, flowering
salmonberry.

As for black twinberry, Pojar does not list it even among the 7
species of "mixed" pollination strategy, but describes it as a mainly
insect-pollinated species which is occasionally used by hummers.
However, my observations (again, not quantified) in the southern B.C.
interior suggest that it is one of the species whose flowers are most
often used by Rufous Hummers immediately after their late-April
arrival here.

Pojar also listed Indian-plum (Osmaronia cerasiformis)-- the
earliest-blooming of all native shrubs in southwestern B.C. (and
presumably around Astoria too?)-- as receiving only occasional
hummingbird use. This agrees with my observations. (Around Vancouver,
it has finished blooming well before most hummingbirds arrive.)

For the record, the 9 species listed by Pojar as typical "hummingbird
flowers: are as follows:

Red columbine (Aquilegia formosa)
Harsh Indian-paintbrush (Castilleja hispida)
Scarlet Indian-paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)
Rhexia-leaved Indian-paintbrush (Castilleja rhexifolia)
Cliff Indian-paintbrush (Castilleja rupicola)
Scarlet gilia (Gilia aggregata)
Orange honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa)
Gummy gooseberry (Ribes lobbii)
Hedge-nettle (Stachys cooleyae)

Most of these species are not shrubby, and bloom far too late in
the season (late May through September) to be a factor in the spring
migration of hummingbirds.

The 7 species of "mixed pollination strategy" were as follows:

Orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
Touch-me-not (Impatiens noli-tangere)
Tiger Lily (Lilium columbianum)
Smooth-leaved or glaucous honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica)
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)
Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

It should also be noted that some of the species in both of the
above lists do not occur west of the Cascades, and a few are absent or
rare as far south as Oregon.

I am sending a copy of Pojar's article to Mike Patterson, and I
hope Mike will be able to scan it into his website, for the benefit of
those who might like to read the whole text.

Let me stress that Pojar's observations on use of different flower
species by hummingbirds (as well as my own observations) are strictly
qualitative-- no attempt was made to quantify the use of different
species. I would strongly encourage those of you who are interested to
take part in Mike Patterson's "Hummingbirds and Flowers" project, and
record not only the number of instances of hummers feeding from
various flower species, but also the number of birds involved on each
occasion. This project has the potential to produce important new data
on the importance of different species of flowers to Rufous
Hummingbirds on their spring migration.


Wayne C. Weber
114-525 Dalgleish Drive
Kamloops, B.C. V2C 6E4
Phone: (604) 377-8865
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca