International Journal of Molecular Evolution and Biodiversity 2016, Vol.6, No.3, 1-8
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Table 3 Floral visit summary
Sunbird species
Total visits to
Lilium
Total visits
Spathodea
Total visits to
Erythrina
Total visits to
Callistemon
Grand
Total
Olive-bellied sunbird 195
163
33
27
418
Scarlet-chested sunbird 0
0
39
60
99
Green-headed sunbird 0
112
183
88
383
Collared sunbird
0
31
188
51
270
Olive sunbird
16
0
1
90
107
Copper sunbird
0
15
9
145
169
Blue-throated sunbird 0
11
8
3
22
Green-throated sunbird 0
17
0
0
17
Grand Total
211
349
461
464
1485
Erythrina
and
Callistemon
had the highest visitation rate per hour per flower (0.9 each) and
Lilium
with 0.4
visitation rate per hour per flower was the lowest (Table 4).
Table 4 Visitation per flower per hour
Plant flower
Total visitation for 30 flowers/18 hours
Visitation per hour per flower
Lilium
7
0.40
Spathodea
11.6
0.70
Erythrina
15.4
0.90
Callistemon
15.5
0.90
3.1 Pattern of visitation over time of day
When data for all sunbird visits to all plant species were pooled together, there was no significant difference in the
median number of visits over time periods during the day (Kruskal-Wallis test:
H
=1.29,
df
=3 and
P
=0.73). However,
there were several notable trends between plant species (Figures 3a-d) when assessing the visit behaviour of the
most regular sunbird visitors. In
Erythrina
, early visitation by Olive-bellied sunbirds quickly diminished when
Green-headed sunbird activity increased but increased again around noon; this coincided with a rapid decrease by
the third main visitor, the Collared sunbird (Figure 3a). For
Spathodea
, the two main visitors were the Green-headed
and Olive-bellied sunbirds and both displayed the same visit pattern, scarce early morning visitation was followed
by an increase to a peak around mid-day and a decline thereafter (Figure 3b). All five main visitors to
Callistemon
were most active between 07:30 and 09:00 (Figure 3c). Only the Collared sunbird exhibited variation in visits after
that time; whilst all other sunbird species ceased visiting by late morning, Collared sunbird visits picked up again
towards mid-day. Olive-bellied sunbirds made over 92% (see Table 3) of visits to
Lilium
, peaking between 11:30
and 13:00 (Figure 3d).
Figure 3a Pattern of visitation over time for
Erythrina
Figure 3b Pattern of visitation over time for
Spathodea
