How Does a Hummingbird Pollinate a Flower?
Small animals, such as hummingbirds, are responsible for much of the pollination that occurs on plants. Hummingbirds are also responsible for much of the pollination that occurs in the area in which they live, although they are hardly aware of the service they are doing for the flowers, plants and trees.
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Hummingbird Diet
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To understand how the hummingbird pollinates flowers you need to understand the hummingbird diet. The hummingbird has to eat every 10 minutes, which means they consume about 2/3 of their body weight in food every day. The hummingbird survives on mainly sugar, which is obtained from the flower nectar found in abundance when flowers are in bloom. In addition to the nectar, hummingbirds also eat insects, but the eating of the nectar is more important to how the flowers are pollinated.
Pollination by Hummingbirds is an Accident
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Hummingbirds do not pollinate flowers on purpose. What happens is that the hummingbird sticks its long, tapered bill into the center of the flower to reach the nectar, which will then be covered with pollen. When the hummingbird has had its fill, it will fly away, but within 10 minutes it will need to feed again, which means it will land on another flower.
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Taking the Pollen to a New Plant
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When the hummingbird needs to feed again, it will land on or hover above another flower of the same or even a different species. As the bill of the hummingbird goes into the flower pollen from the old flower falls off while pollen from the new flower is taken away to yet another flower at the next feeding. The cycle repeats again and again as the hummingbird feeds.
What Happens Next
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The hummingbird introduces pollen from one flower to the next. The pollen it received came from the stamen of one plant and, when the bird feeds on another, the pollen often rubs off on the stigma of the plant, which has effectively put the male and the female of the two plants together, which can result in reproduction and the growth of new plants.
Significance
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For obvious reasons, if there were not hummingbirds, there would not be near as much pollination as if it were left to the wind, butterflies and other insects that land on flowers. The significance of hummingbirds is that they are intelligent enough to remember which varieties of plants contain the sweetest nectar and which are most plentiful. The result is that many hummingbirds return to the same area and the same species of plants each year, helping to continue to pollinate and grow more of the nectar that they love.
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