Kelly raises some interesting questions about the polination biology of Rubus(spectabilis and others) as well as fruit trees in eastern WA that are used by hummingbirds. First I think it is important to remember that the center of origin of these species is not here in the New World, but is actually in Asia, where there are no hummingbirds. I think it is also important to keep in mind that evolution is a dynamic process and what we see today is not the end point (I suppose the only endpoint in evolution comes with extinction, but that is a topic for another day).

With this in mind I don't think it should really be all that surprising that salmonberry relies somewhat on hummingbirds for pollination. Hummingbirds are probably the most reliable pollinators at the time of year when salmonberry blooms so from that standpoint it makes sense that they would evolve some mechanism to attract hummingbirds. Their magenta colored flowers fits in well with this hypothesis. They still have the classic flower form of the majority of their family but who is to say that won't one day shift as well? I suspect there is little evolutionary pressure to do so as all the salmonberry needs to do is attract the hummingbird and provide it with copious nectar. While there is some competition for nectar with bees is it neccessarily strong enough to drive the evolution of the flower to a form which excludes them? If it is, how quickly? Maybe we just aren't there yet.

As for the fruit trees, they didn't evolve here so why should they have evolved a mechanism to attract hummingbirds? That being said, why should we expect hummingbirds to be attracted only to plants that have evolved mechanisms to attract them? Orchards provide a concentration of easy, reliable nectar for hummingbirds. Why should they expend more energy trying to defend a larger patch of flowers that are less concentrated in one spot? It only makes sense for them to be adaptive to utilize these sources. Likewise, if the salmonberry can "hedge its bets" so to speak by attracting hummingbirds with flower color but also keep its nectar available to bees if and when they come so much the better. Granted it is not a concious decision as my wording may make it sound, but I think there are many examples of evolution of generalist species out there, perhaps just as many as there are specialists. I don't think finding examples of such should really be that
surprising to any of us.

Good birding,

Michael

Michael Dossett
Corvallis, Oregon
www.Mdossettphoto.com
phainopepla at yahoo.com