Forrajeo del colibrí <i>Selasphorus flammula</i> en relación con tamaños y distribución de parches florales.

Abstract

I examined the effects of the size and disposition of patches of the plant Salvia iodochroa, on visitation rates of the hurnmingbird Selasphorus flarnrnula. Data were obtaíned in Cerro de la Muerte (3100 m), Costa Rica duríng February 1989. The study area was an overgrown, partly shaded pasture, in which S. iodochroa flowers ocurred in one large patch and seven smaller ones at different distances from the large one. The quantity of visits and the visitation rate decreased in the smaller patches in direct relation to their distance from tbe large patch. The spatial disposition of the flowers in relation to other striking resources was important in determining tbe visitation pattem of the hurnmingbird.