Ecomorphological analysis of a community of hermit hummingbirds (Trochilidae, Phaethorninae) and their owers in Colombian Amazonia
Ecomorphological analysis of a community of hermit hummingbirds (Trochilidae, Phaethorninae) and their owers in Colombian Amazonia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59517/oc.e50Keywords:
Colombia, ecomorphology, hermit hummingbirds, hummingbird-flower interaction, Phaethorninae, tropical rain forestAbstract
The hermit hummingbirds (Trochilidae, Phaethorninae) interact strongly with the flowers of certain families of plants of which they are the principal pollinators, a relation determined principally by the mutual adjustment of bill and corolla morphologies. This study identified and characterized morphologically the species of hermit hummingbirds and their floral resources in tierra firme forest of Colombian Amazonia. Seven species of hermits were recorded by direct observations and mist-net captures and were classified into three groups by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of morphological variables: 1) large, curve-billed species (Phaethornis malaris, P. hispidus, Threnetes leucurus, Glaucis hirsuta), 2) the medium-sized, straight-billed P. bourcieri and 3) the small P. ruber and P. atrimentalis. Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) of morphological measurements and ecological information resulted in uniting P. bourcieri with the former group and demonstrated a strong correlation between bill length and number of species of flowers visited. Marked sexual dimorphism exists in the hermit species in bill morphology, wing length, tail length and body mass, but we did not detect any marked effect upon flower visitation. 46 species of plants were visited by hermit hummingbirds, eight of which were identified by visual observations, 28 by pollen loads and ten by both methods, indicating the importance of using both methods. The families with most species visited were Heliconiaceae, Rubiaceae, Gesneriaceae, Acanthaceae and Costaceae. Combining the results obtained by PCA and Metric Multidimensional Scaling Analysis for the morphological variables of the plants, seven ecomorphological groups were distinguished. The large and medium hermits (group 1) visited five of these groups of plants and the small hermits (group 2) visited plants of the remaining two groups. However, the ACC failed to show any correlation between the morphological attributes of the plants and flowers with numbers of species of visiting hermits, probably because each group of hermits visited flowers of plants with varied morphologies; other types of ecological variables should be investigated for this type of analysis. This hermit hummingbird-flower community was characterized by high morphological diversity and by the clear separation of the species into groups with similar morphologies. The results also demonstrated the strong relation that exists between morphology and ecology in the hummingbird-flower interaction. The morphological attributes of both the hermit hummingbirds and their nectar resources determined in large part the visitation patterns of the birds to their flowers. Also, other factors like resource availability, habitat diversity and movements between habitats, modified the foraging behavior of the hermit hummingbirds.
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