?Importa la longitud? Acople pico corola en la eficiencia de forrajeo de tres especies de colibries en Palacio (PNN Chingaza)
Optimal foraging theory proposes that the amount of energy obtained by species should be optimized, while the cost of obtaining food is reduced. Regarding hummingbirds, several authors have sustained that a good match between bill and corolla length is necessary in order to meet this theory's requirements and for the occurence of flower hummingbird interactions, while others have supported the idea that ecological assemblages are established randomly and by unmatched interactions. Thus, this study seeks to contribute to this discussion by studying if a match closer to zero between hummingbirds Coeligena helianthea, Heliangelus amethysticollis and Metallura tyrianthina's bill length and the corolla length of visited flowers improves foraging efficiency. High speed cameras were set and the recordings were used to measure adjustment time, handling time, and licking rate, which led then to the calculation of foraging efficiency from benefit and hovering costs for each of the three hummingbird species. These variables were evaluated as a function of the bill corolla match, defined as the difference between corolla length and exposed hummingbird culmen. It was found that this match does not influence the number of visits from the hummingbirds to the flowers and that matches in the moderate category have the highest efficiency values. Hence, it is important to consider that length is simply one of the dimensions of trait matching and that there are additional factors and selective pressures, besides feeding ecology, shaping hummingbird bill morphology.