What about Ribes sanguineum?? I have found large
patches of these to be dependable spots for early
Rufous hummers.

Michael Dossett
Bothell
Phainopepla at yahoo.com

--- WAYNE WEBER <WAYNE_WEBER at bc.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
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