[EBB Sightings] Allen's Hummer Food habits

Pat/Tom:

Birds of North America Online (a steal at $40/annual
subscription
https://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA/subscriptionInfo.html)
indicates that the Chron has scooped the Cornell Lab
of Ornithology once again. The Chronicle documents the
seed-eating capability of the Allen's Hummer, but
Cornell does not.

Short version:
FEEDING
Main foods taken
Floral nectar and small insects.

Long version:
Obtains nectar from flowering plants, especially from
those that have characters adapted for pollination by
hummingbirds, e.g., reddish tubular flowers, high
dilute sucrose nectar production (see Grant and Grant
1968). Plant species especially favored on breeding
grounds include bush monkeyflower (Mimulus
auruntiacus), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja spp.),
columbine (Aquilegia formosa), currants and
gooseberries (Ribes spp.), Indian pink (Silene
laciniata, S. californica), Indian warrior
(Pedicularis densiflora), twinflower (Lonicera
involucrata), penstemon (Penstemon and Keckia spp.),
ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.), pitcher sage (Salvia
spathacea), madrone (Arbutus menziesii), manzanita
(Arctostaphylus spp.; Bent 1940, Grant and Grant 1966,
1967, 1968, DEM). Food plants of sedentarius include
Channel Is. endemics island snapdragon (Galvezia
speciosa), island monkeyflower (Mimulus flemengii) and
Indian paintbrush (Caseilleja lanata hololeuca).
Blooming citrus trees in groves provide an additional
source of nectar for spring migrants (Woods 1927).
Northbound migrants in Mojave Desert feed on nectar
from bladderpod (Isomeris arborea; Cody 1968). The
migratory race follows mountains south to take
advantage of the summer bloom at higher elevations,
including scarlet monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis),
hedge nettle (Stachys spp.), Indian paintbrush,
California fuchsia (Epilobium cani), red larkspur
(Delphinium cardinale), and columbine (Grinnell and
Miller 1944). Ornamental plants in gardens also
provide nectar on the southbound journey, as do a
number of introduced species, especially tree tobacco
(Nicotiana glauca). Winter nectar sources for
sedentarius on the Channel Is. include introduced
eucalyptus trees (Jones and Collins in press).

Not much info on their seed eating. I'm aligned with
Pat's thinking.

Best,

Bob Power
Oakland, CA

--- Patricia Braddy  wrote:

> It seems more plausible to me that the hummers would
> be eating small  
> gnats/insects from the mallow instead of the seeds. 
> What do you think?
> 
> Patricia Braddy
> San Ramon
> 
> On Feb 18, 2006, at 3:34 PM, Tom Condit wrote:
> 
> In re migrating Allen's Hummers, the S F Chronicle
> Home section had  
> an article on Tree Mallow, aka Rose Malva, aka I
> dunno what, which  
> said that migrating Allen's eat the seeds of this
> plant. Has anyone  
> observed this behavior here? It's the first I've
> heard of Hummer seed- 
> eating.
> 
> Tom C.
> 
> At 08:31 AM 2/16/06 -0800, Dyann Blaine wrote:
> 
> > Among the brightly colored jewels zipping to my
> hummingbird feeders  
> > this chilly morning was the first Allen's that I
> have seen this  
> > year - buzzing like a large orange bumblebee. 
> Perhaps this means  
> > that the golden-crowned and fox sparrows (which I
> dearly love) will  
> > soon stop grooming the foot-wide landing strip
> that they have  
> > created through the length of my lawn this winter
> and spring will  
> > soon be here.
> >
> > Dyann Blaine
> > Orinda, off of Moraga Way.
> >
> >
> >
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> Tom Condit
> tomcondit at igc.org
> 
> 
> 
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