Some birds may be ahead of the rest. The hummingbirds here seem to love my aloes as much as all the coevolved Salvia, Cuphea, Odontonema, etc. That passalong variety/hybrid that goes as Aloe saponaria is a big favorite. The hummingbirds will often land on the branches of the inflorescence and feed from all the nearby flowers before flying to another perch. Alani Davis -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Joe Shaw Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 3:04 PM To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org Subject: [pbs] More About Birds, Bulbs, and etc. Hi Gang, Living in the USA, I sometimes forget about the wonderful natural history in other parts of the world. Myke wrote to me about sunbirds in his country in response to my note about hummingbirds. And I went online and found that many birds around the world (e.g., lorikeets) enjoy nectar and fruit. I used to "know" this but seem to have misplaced the knowledge along with some other information over they years. Perhaps bulb-rich areas of the world provide more food for birds (through bulbs) than is the case here in Texas. I know that aloes are not bird flowers in this part of the world (the birds don't seem to know how to use them), but Jim M. pointed out that Kniphophia, lilies, and tuberoses can be good nectar sources for birds. I get a lot of "action" with Callistemon and some rainlilies. The local native rainlily has a white, upright flower and a long nectar tube; I think it might be a moth flower rather than a bird flower; I think that hummingbirds like flowers that point sideways or a bit downwards, rather than directly up. I do recall that the red-flowered Bessera elegans got some hummingbird attention this summer, but the blooms hang downwards and I don't know if the birds really got nectar from the flowers. One thing I do for birds is to limit my use of pesticides. I'm not averse to pesticides use them when needed (eastern lubber grasshoppers beware). However, I do try to spot treat rather than kill all the insects in my yard. It is a trade-off-I get some damage and I also enjoy more small lizards and birds coming and going. Pesticides are a big topic, and not really the subject of this email. However, one resource that I use to study pesticides (danger to birds, pets, ground water, aquatic organisms, or persistence in the environment, etc.) is EXTOXNET. You can research almost any pesticide by brand name or chemical component, and find lots of data. I like to compare oral toxicity with caffeine toxicity. If a compound is not more toxic (to humans) than is caffeine, I am more likely to consider using it. LINK: EXTOXNET http://extoxnet.orst.edu/ LINK: Caffeine Toxicity Data http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/CA/caffeine.html Cordially, Joe _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php