Hummingbirds And Their Flowers In The 'Campos Rupestres' Of Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Northeastern Brazil

We surveyed the hummingbird community occurring on the high altitude rocky fields ("campos rupestres") of Chapada Diamantina, state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil, evaluating its seasonal pattern of association with the local plant community. Field work was carried out from March 2003 to January 2004 at Parque Municipal de Mucuge. Seven hummingbird species were recorded visiting 36 plant species. Only two species, Chlorostilbon lucidus and Phaethornis pretrei, were considered residents. The remaining five species occurred at the study site mainly during the wet season. Chlorostilbon lucidus was the most generalist species, visiting 30 plant species, being the sole visitor of 11 species. Also, C. lucidus was the most aggressive species at territorial defense. Considering all plants visited by the hummingbirds, 30 plant species flourished in both wet and dry season, with three species flourishing exclusively during the dry season and three during the wet season. This pattern is somewhat different than that documented for other regions, where the number of flowering plants usually peaks during the wet season. Out of the 36 plant species found to be associated with the local hummingbird community, 14 showed ornithophilous and 19 fit the enthornophilous syndromes; the three remaining species showed a mix of ornithophilous and chiropterophilous syndromes. For some of the non-ornithophilous plants recorded, hummingbirds might be acting as their truly pollinators.