Blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird

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Blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird
Blue-throated Broad-billed Hummingbird in flight

Blue-throated Broad-billed Hummingbird in flight

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre : Cynanthus
Type : Blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird
Scientific name
Cynanthus latirostris
Swainson , 1827

The blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird ( Cynanthus latirostris ) or broad-billed hummingbird is a greenish hummingbird that, unlike many relatives, lives very north.

features

The male blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird can easily be recognized by its bright green top and bottom and the white under tail-coverts, while the female has a rather dull green top and white-gray underside. The slightly curved beak is bright red except for the black end. The tail is slightly incised. The control springs are very wide. The weight of these hummingbirds is 7 to 8 grams, the length about 8 to 10 cm. You have big, good eyes. The typical call of the broad-billed hummingbird sounds like a scolding "jedit", but during the breeding season the male still has its own call that sounds like "zing".

Way of life

The solitary, belligerent and diurnal hummingbird falls into the torpor (rigid state) at night to save energy . His heartbeat drops from the normal 1200 beats per minute to just 20. Unlike most of his relatives, he loves the open terrain and is sometimes even found in canyons and river valleys. He is very reluctant to leave his regular places, even when food is scarce.

Courtship and breeding biology

During the breeding season, which runs from January to August, some males sometimes gather in flocks to attract attention. As soon as a female approaches, it is recruited by a male with the overturned courtship flight . After mating, the male leaves the female very quickly while the female weaves the bowl-shaped nest made of small twigs, tree bark strips and spider webs. There it usually lays two white, elongated eggs, which it incubates for about 16 days. As soon as the naked young birds have hatched, the mother has to feed them almost continuously. 22 to 24 days later, the young are fully fledged and leave the nest, but cannot walk at this time. A female usually raises three, sometimes two broods per season. The boys are sexually mature when they are one year old.

food

The diet of the blue-throated broad-billed hummingbirds consists of pollen , flower nectar and insects . An animal sucks about 2,000 flowers per day. The protein-rich insects are mostly stolen from spider webs or caught in flight.

distribution

The distribution area extends from Arizona in the USA to southern Mexico . In autumn the birds migrate from the north to the south. They are not threatened, the population is relatively stable.

Subspecies

Distribution area of ​​the broad-billed hummingbird

Five subspecies of the species are known so far.

Etymology and history of research

William Swainson described the blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird under the current name Cynanthus latirostris . With the new species he also introduced you to the new genus Cynanthus . This name is a Greek result from "kyanos κυανος " for "dark blue" and "anthos ανθος " for "blossom". The specific epithet "latirostris" is a Latin structure from "latus" for "broad" and "-rostris, rostrum" for "-beaked, beak". »Magicus« is the Latin word for »mysterious« or is derived from the Greek »magikos μαγικος « for »magical«. The Latin »propinquus« means »close relationship« and should actually describe the proximity to the blue-faced broad-billed hummingbird ( Cynanthus doubledayi ). "Toroi" is dedicated to the Mexican collector and zoologist Mario del Toro Avilés . "Lawrencei" pays homage to George Newbold Lawrence (1806–1895).

literature

  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • Étienne Mulsant, Jules Verreaux: Description d'une espèce nouvelle d'oiseaux-mouche (Hylocharis Magica) . In: Annales de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon . tape 18 , 1872, p. 110–112 (French, gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de [accessed on July 11, 2014]).
  • Robert Thomas Moore: A new race of Cynanthus latirostris from Guanajuato . In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . tape 52 , 1939, pp. 57–60 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed January 29, 2015]).
  • William Swainson: On several Groups and Forms in Ornithology, no hitherto defined . In: The Zoological journal . tape 3 , no. 11 , 1827, pp. 343–363 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed July 13, 2014]).
  • William Swainson: A synopsis of the birds discovered in Mexico by W. Bullock FLS and HS, and Mr. William Bullock, jun . In: The Philosophical magazine: or Annals of chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, natural history and general science (=  2 ). tape 1 , no. 85 , 1827, pp. 433–442 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed July 11, 2014]).
  • Jacques Berlioz: Note sur une collection d'oiseaux du Mexique . In: Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (=  2 ). tape 8 , no. 3 , 1937, pp. 170–175 ( gallica.bnf.fr [accessed July 11, 2014]).
  • Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch: Description of new Species and Subspecies of Trochilidae . In: The Ibis (=  5 ). tape 5 , no. 29 , 1897, pp. 289-298 ( biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed July 11, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : Blue-throated Broad-billed Hummingbird  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds.
  2. ↑ Étienne Mulsant et al. a., p. 110.
  3. ↑ a b Robert Thomas Moore, p. 57.
  4. ^ A b William Swainson: A synopsis of the birds discovered in Mexico…. 1827, p. 441.
  5. ↑ Jacques Berlioz, p. 171
  6. ↑ Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch, p. 292.
  7. ^ William Swainson: On several Groups and Forms in Ornithology, no hitherto defined. 1827, p. 357. It could also be that the genus was first published in The Zoological journal from the same year.
  8. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 129.
  9. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 220.
  10. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 237.
  11. ↑ Jacques Berlioz, p. 172.
  12. ↑ Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch, p. 294.