Sexual selection drives the evolution of some of the most exaggerated traits in nature.
Studies on sexual selection often focus on the size of these traits relative to body size, but …

Hummingbirds have two main foraging strategies: territoriality (defending a patch of flowers)
and traplining (foraging over routine circuits of isolated patches). Species are often classified …

How traits affect speciation is a long-standing question in evolution. We investigate whether
speciation rates are affected by the traits themselves or by the rates of their evolution, in …

Torpor, or a regulated drop in body temperature and metabolic rate, allows animals to
inhabit energetically costly environments, but among torpor‐using species, we have a poor …

Differences among hummingbird species in bill length and shape have rightly been viewed
as adaptive in relation to the morphology of the flowers they visit for nectar. In this study we …

Hummingbirds are charismatic fauna that provide important pollination services, including in
the continental US, where 15 species regularly breed. Compared to other birds in North …

Feather bacterial load affects key avian life-history traits such as plumage condition, innate
immunity, and reproductive success. Investigating the interplay between life-history traits …

The vocal organ of birds, the syrinx, represents a key innovation in the evolutionary history of
vertebrate communication. Three major avian clades: passerines, parrots, and …

Rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) have shown consistent declines in abundance
since 1970, with an acceleration in this trend starting in the mid-2000s. Demographic data is …

Hummingbirds have crucial ecological importance in natural and human-altered habitats in
the Neotropics. Their unique biological characteristics imply a delicate energetic balance …