High-speed video and artificial flowers shed light on mysteries of hummingbird-pollinated flowers
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - 19:00
in Biology & Nature
How flowers have evolved particular colours, shapes and scents to attract pollinators has long fascinated ecologists. Now, using artificial flowers and high-speed video, researchers have gained intriguing insights into the intimate relationship between hummingbirds and the flowers they pollinate. The study, published in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology, is the first to measure how much energy hummingbirds use while hovering to feed from flowers of different orientation.