ornithophily
bird pollination

The flowers of Isoplexis species appear to be adapted for bird pollination.

This species, along with other members of the genus Mimetes, is adapted to bird pollination.

K. cookei seems to be adapted to bird pollination like most related Malvaceae.

Ornithophily or bird pollination is the pollination of flowering plants by birds.

Bird pollination is considered as a costly strategy for plants and it evolves only where there are particular benefits for the plant.

This bird pollination syndrome is pretty rare in these latitudes and seems to have independent origins according to phylogenies of each lineage.

Bird pollination (ornithophily)

Bird pollination Hummingbirds are the most familiar nectar-feeding birds for North Americans, there are analogous species in other parts of the world.

Typically, blue-flowered species predominate in the Northern Hemisphere, with red-flowered species dominant in the Andes (where bird pollination is probably more heavily favored by natural selection).

Canarina canariensis is one of a group of unrelated Canarian plants that appear to be adapted for bird pollination, including the members of the genera Isoplexis and Lotus.

This plant presents a clear bird pollination syndrome, a phenomenon shared with another 12 Macaronesian endemics (genus Muschia, Lotus, Isoplexis, Canarina, Echium and Scrophularia).

Ollerton J, Cranmer L, Stelzer R, Sullivan S, Chittka L (2008) Bird pollination of Canary Island endemic plants.

Claire Micheneau, Jacques Fournel & Thierry Pailler: Bird Pollination in an Angraecoid Orchid on Reunion Island (Mascarene Archipelago, Indian Ocean).

Colour Vision and Niche Partition The fact that bees require more time to find red flowers than other-coloured flowers, together with some results from optimal-foraging theory, outlined here, could unlock the mystery and explain the association between red coloration and bird pollination in flowers.