Ornithophily

thumb|Hummingbird Phaethornis longirostris on an [[Etlingera inflorescence]] Ornithophily or bird pollination is the pollination of flowering plants by birds. This sometimes (but not always) coevolutionary association is derived from insect pollination (entomophily) and is particularly well developed in some parts of the world, especially in the tropics, Southern Africa, and on some island chains. The association involves several distinctive plant adaptations forming a "pollination syndrome". The plants typically have colourful, often red, flowers with long tubular structures holding ample nectar and orientations of the stamen and stigma that ensure contact with the pollinator. Birds involved in ornithophily tend to be specialist nectarivores with brushy tongues and long bills, that are either capable of hovering flight or light enough to perch on the flower structures.

==Plant adaptations== thumb|left|A lesser violetear thumb|Inflorescences of Butea allow birds to perch on the stalk Plant adaptations for ornithophily can be grouped primarily into those that attract and facilitate pollen transfer by birds, and those that exclude other groups, primarily insects, protecting against 'theft' of nectar and pollen. The ovules of bird flowers also tend to have adaptations that protect them from damage during vigorous foraging by hard bird bills.