Direct and Indirect Effects of Nectar Robbing on the Pollinating Behavior of <i>Patagona gigas</i> (Trochilidae)¹

Abstract

ABSTRACT In central Chile, nectar robbing of Puya coerulea (Bromeliaceae) flowers by the austral blackbird, Curaeus curaeus , had a direct impact on the plant via removal of floral resources and, in some cases, damage or even destruction of flowers. These robbing visits also likely had an indirect impact on plant fitness due to the decreased rate of legitimate visits by the hummingbird Patagona gigas to inflorescences with many robbed flowers. The proportion of flowers within an inflorescence visited by P. gigas was inversely proportional to the ratio of robbed flowers.