Hummingbird (Aves: Trochilidae) assemblage using resources from the exotic African tuliptree, Spathodea campanulata (Bignoniaceae) in a Neotropical altered environment, southeastern Brazil

Abstract The non-native African tuliptree, Spathodea campanulata (P. Beauv), is widely distributed in altered Neotropical environments, where hummingbirds are important pollinators. We investigated the assemblage of hummingbirds which fed on its nectar and described their behavior, to understand possible influences of the exotic tree on the territorial behavior in an altered environment in southeastern Brazil. Seven species fed on flower resources, mainly Eupetomena macroura (Gmelin, 1788), Amazilia lactea (Lesson, 1832), and Florisuga fusca (Vieillot, 1817). Visiting time was positive correlated with number of flowers accessed, but in most visits, hummingbirds get the nectar by pillage, instead of frontal access. Flower availability varied throughout months; however, we found no evidence of significative correlation between available flowers and number of agonistic encounters. Despite a high number of animal-plant interactions and a strong territorialism of some species observed in African tuliptree foraging site, there may be other plants at local scale influencing the behavioral patterns observed.

摘要 外来种非洲郁金香树（Spathodea campanulata (P. Beauv)）在受干扰的新热带环境中分布广泛，蜂鸟是其重要的传粉者。本研究针对取食该树种花蜜的蜂鸟类群展开调查，并描述其访花行为，以期阐明该外来树种对巴西东南部受干扰环境中蜂鸟领域行为的潜在影响。共有7种蜂鸟取食该树种的花部资源，其中以大燕尾蜂鸟（Eupetomena macroura (Gmelin, 1788)）、乳白蜂鸟（Amazilia lactea (Lesson, 1832)）和黑喉蜂鸟（Florisuga fusca (Vieillot, 1817)）为优势类群。访花时长与访问的花朵数量呈正相关，但多数情况下蜂鸟通过盗蜜而非正面访花的方式获取花蜜。花部资源的可获得性随月份发生变化，但未发现可利用花朵数量与对抗性互动频次间存在显著相关性。尽管在非洲郁金香树的觅食生境中观测到大量动植物互作事件，且部分物种表现出较强的领域性，但局域尺度上可能存在其他植物类群，影响了本次观测到的行为模式。