Allen's hummingbird

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Allen's hummingbird
Allen's hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), (female)

Allen's hummingbird ( Selasphorus sasin ), (female)

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre : Northern Elves ( Selasphorus )
Type : Allen's hummingbird
Scientific name
Selasphorus sasin
( Lesson , 1829)

The Allen's Hummingbird or green backs Hummingbird ( Selasphorus sasin ) is a bird art from the family of hummingbirds (Trochilidae).

features

The body length is 75–90 mm, the maximum body weight is just over 3 g. Males differ significantly from females in the color of their plumage ( sexual dimorphism ). The sides of the head, throat, flanks, lower back and tail are bright red, the neck and upper chest are white. The top of the head and the upper and middle back are metallic green.

The females are much less colorful, their upper side is a solid green, the underside predominantly white. The flanks are tinged with red. The throat and sides of the head show a strong pattern of purple and green dots. Young males resemble the females in terms of plumage.

distribution

Orange : breeding area of ​​the migrating subspecies.
Blue : winter quarters of the migrating subspecies.
Green : breeding area of ​​resident birds

The relatively small range of the Allen's hummingbird is limited to a narrow strip along the Pacific coast of the USA from southern Oregon to southern California . The species lives in damp shrubbery strips and willow trees along the coast; in the south it occurs in mixed stands of different coniferous trees, such as Douglas firs , pines and cypresses, but also on the edge of eucalyptus plantations and light oak forests. On the Channel Islands, the species mainly breeds in the dense chaparral with only individual trees . This hummingbird does not penetrate further inland than thirty kilometers.

Breeding biology

Youthful

The Allen's hummingbird is polygynous . The males arriving first occupy a breeding territory; the females arriving later establish their own nesting area territories that mostly overlap with the male territories. Nest building and rearing of the young is incumbent on the female alone. The nest is a very stable bowl that takes 10 to 16 days, usually anew every year. The clutch consists of two eggs that are incubated between 17 and 21 days, depending on the weather. After a nestling period of an average of 22 days, the young birds fly out. In the southern breeding areas two broods are usually brought up, in the northern breeding areas usually only one. Change of partner between first and second brood happens, whether it is frequent is not known.

hikes

Allen's hummingbirds leave their breeding grounds very early; first the males withdraw, then the females and in mid-July this year's young birds have also left the breeding areas. The move takes place inland, along the slopes of the coastal mountains, probably to use flowering plants of the higher areas. The first pullers appear in the wintering areas in central Mexico from the end of August to the beginning of September. These areas will be left again at the end of November, at the latest by the end of December. The northern range largely follows the coastline; now the early bloomers of these regions can be sought out as nectar suppliers. The latest arrivals reach the breeding grounds in mid-March.

Systematics

The closest relative is the red-backed Zimtelfe , with which the Allen's hummingbird occurs sympathetically in southern Oregon and occasionally hybridizes. Two subspecies of the Allen's hummingbird are described, which differ only slightly in color and appearance, but differ in behavior. Selasphorus sasin sasin is an obligatory medium-range migrant with wintering areas in central Mexico.The slightly larger Selasphorus sasin sedentarius Grinnell , 1929, which occurs on some of the Californian Channel Islands as well as in a small area of ​​the nearby mainland, especially in the outskirts of Los Angeles , is a resident bird.

Etymology and history of research

René Primevère Lesson described the Allen's hummingbird under the name Ornismya Sasin . He named Nootka Sound , San Francisco and Monterrey as the site . It was James Cook who first mentioned it as a variety of the ruby- throated hummingbird ( Archilochus colubris ). Eventually it fell to John Latham to describe the hummingbird as the Ruff necked Humming Bird . Only later was it assigned to the genus Selasphorus , newly introduced by William Swainson in 1832 . This name is a Greek word composed of "selas σελας " for "light, flame" and "-phoros, pherō -φορος, φερω " for "-bearing, carrying". The specific epithet »sasin« means »hummingbird« in the language of the Wakashan or Nootka . The Latin »sedentarius« stands for »sedentary, seated«, which in turn is derived from »sedere« for »sit«.

swell

  1. ^ Mitchell (2000) Distribution
  2. ^ Mitchell (2000) Breeding
  3. ^ Mitchell (2000) Migration
  4. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  5. ^ Joseph Grinnell, p. 226
  6. ^ Mitchell (2000) Systematics
  7. ↑ René Primevère Lesson, p. 190, more information p. XXX, p. 190–193, plates 66, 67
  8. ↑ James Cook, p. 297
  9. ^ John Latham, p. 785, plate 35
  10. ↑ William Swainson, p. 324. Comment: Even if the book title says 1831 as the year of publication, the work did not appear until 1832.
  11. ↑ a b James A. Jobling, p. 352
  12. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 348

literature

  • Donald E. Mitchell: Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology (2000) (online version / Species 501)
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • René Primevère Lesson : Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches, ouvrage orné de planches desinées et gravée par les meilleurs artistes et dédié A SAR Mademoiselle 81 plates (Prêtre, Antoine Germaine Bévalet, Marie Clémence Lesson based on Louis Vieillot's Charles Vieillot, Antoine William Pierre William Vieillot , Pancrace Bessa , Elisa Zoé Dumont de Sainte Croix) . Arthus-Bertrand, Paris 1829 ( online [accessed June 27, 2014]).
  • Joseph Grinnell: A New Race of Hummingbird from South Carolina . In: The Condor . tape 31 , no. 5 , 1929, pp. 226–227 ( online [PDF; 177 kB ; accessed on June 27, 2014]).
  • William Swainson in William Swainson, John Richardson : Fauna boreali-americana, or, The zoology of the northern parts of British America : containing descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late northern land expeditions, under command of Captain Sir John Franklin, RN band 2 (Birds). John Murray, London 1832 ( online [accessed June 27, 2014]).
  • James Cook: A voyage to the Pacific ocean. Undertaken, by the command of His Majesty, for making discoveries in the Northern hemisphere, to determine the position and extent of the west side of North America; its distance from Asia; and the practicability of a northern passage to Europe. Performed under the direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in His Majesty's ships the Resolution and Discovery, in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780 . tape 2 . W. and a. Strahan, London 1782 ( online [accessed June 27, 2014]).
  • John Latham: A general synopsis of birds . tape 1 , no. 2 . Benj. White, London 1782 ( online [accessed June 27, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : Allen's Hummingbird  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files