Blue-tailed emerald hummingbird

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Blue-tailed emerald hummingbird
Blue-tailed emerald hummingbird

Blue-tailed emerald hummingbird

Systematics
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Tribe : Bees (Mellisugini)
Genre : Emerald Hummingbirds ( Chlorostilbon )
Type : Blue-tailed emerald hummingbird
Scientific name
Chlorostilbon mellisugus
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The Blue-tailed emerald hummingbird ( Chlorostilbon mellisugus ) is a species of bird in the family of hummingbirds (Trochilidae) that the Netherlands Antilles , on Trinidad , in Venezuela , Guyana , Suriname , French Guiana , Brazil , Colombia , Ecuador , Peru and Bolivia spread is. The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

features

The male blue-tailed emerald hummingbird reaches a body length of about 7.5 to 9.5 cm, the female about 6.5 to 7.5 cm with a weight of 2.3 to 3.5 g. The male has a short straight black beak that can be 1.3 to 1.8 cm long. The front skull and the skull shimmer golden-green, the upper side bronze-green. The underside glitters emerald green, with the breast glistening more than the rest. It has white tufts on the thighs. The tail is steel blue. The fork of the tail varies between the subspecies. The female has a black beak. The anterior skull and the skull are bronze green. There is a black band over the ear covers which is bordered by a light gray eye stripe . The rest of the top is metallic grass green. The underside is pale gray. The tail is mainly blue-black with whitish gray tips. Young animals are similar to adult females, but they have a dull olive-green upper head, a shorter eye stripe, a yellow-brown underside with a white cloak and white fringes on the feet.

Behavior and nutrition

The blue-tailed emerald hummingbird gets its nectar relatively close to the ground from flowers of the genera hibiscus , convertible rose , Cannaceae and the species sesame . Occasionally he gets the nectar in which he the petals of mint anpickt or he steals it from the holes in flowers with long crowns . Other plants he flies to are Opuntia wentiana , Odontoglossum bictoniense , Epidendrum brassavolae , Tamarindus indica , Beureria succulenta , Acacia tortuosa , Cordia sebestena , Hibiscus rosasinensis , Poinciana regia , Leonotis nepetaefolia and Bougainvillea spectabilis . It also feeds on honeydew from cap scale insects that are found on Mimosa bracaatinga . As a trapliner, it flies regularly in quick succession to very specific, scattered flowers. Occasionally he sees blooming trees gathering together with mostly larger hummingbirds. He hunts insects in flight. A study in northeastern Venezuela found that 86% of the samples contained spiders , beetles , two-winged and hymenoptera and 50% of the samples contained nectar in the stomach contents. He gets the food in the lower to middle strata at heights of 1 to 6 meters above the ground. When the orange trees are in bloom, he also seems to be in the treetops.

Brood

Blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird chick

The breeding season of the blue-tailed emerald hummingbird in north-central Venezuela is from January to June, August, September, November and December, mostly in the late humid to early dry season. It was seen brooding in May in Trinidad. In the Netherlands Antilles, nests with eggs have been discovered almost all year round. The nest, a goblet-shaped structure with a diameter of approx. 3 cm and a depth of 2.5 cm, is placed in dense undergrowth-deep secondary forest approx. 0.8 to 0.9 meters above the ground. These are mostly sloping branches of z. B. Fleischmannia microstemon . He fixes the nest with cobwebs, lays it out with plant material and decorates the outside with small pieces of bark. A clutch consists of two eggs. An egg weighs about 0.4 grams and is 11.4 to 12 by 7.4 to 7.5 mm in size. The incubation period lasts between 13 and 19 days and the eggs are only incubated by the female. The chicks are dark gray with two dark back stripes and weigh about 0.2 grams shortly after hatching. The nestlings fledge at around 20 days. The first brood occurs in the second year of life of the blue-tailed emerald hummingbird.

Vocalizations

The song of the blue-tailed emerald hummingbird consists of a continuing series of subtle scratching and wheezing sounds at a frequency of three to four tones per second. Quick chatter recalls were seen during trap camera recordings that started with some introductory tones. The sounds contain soft tsip , pit and chup tones.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area of ​​the blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird

The blue-throated broad-billed hummingbird prefers habitats with xerophytes , such as savannas, cerrado , cultivation areas, plantations, city gardens, fields, hedge landscapes, large clearings with terra firme forests and forest edges with deciduous trees. He is usually at altitudes below 1200 meters in Peru, and below 1850 meters in Venezuela.

migration

The blue-tailed emerald hummingbird is a resident bird , which occasionally migrates locally as a line bird . in Sucre it has been observed to move into thorn forest in the rainy season from May to October, but elsewhere it does not seem to move any further.

Subspecies

There are seven known subspecies:

  • Chlorostilbon mellisugus caribaeus Lawrence , 1871 occurs in northeastern Venezuela, on Trinidad and the Netherlands Antilles. The male of this subspecies has little blue tint on the throat.
  • Chlorostilbon mellisugus duidae Zimmer, JT & Phelps , 1952 occurs on Mount Duida in southeastern Venezuela. The male of this subspecies has a bronze-orange head and a reddish copper top.
  • Chlorostilbon mellisugus subfurcatus von Berlepsch , 1887 is common in southern Venezuela, in Guyana, and in the Rio Branco region in northwestern Brazil. The male of this subspecies looks more blue-green on the throat and upper tail-coverts, but in contrast to C. m. caribaeus has a golden-green skull.
  • Chlorostilbon mellisugus mellisugus ( Linnaeus , 1758) is common in Suriname, French Guiana and northeastern Brazil.
  • Chlorostilbon mellisugus phoeopygus ( Tschudi , 1844) is common in the upper Amazon . The subspecies has a more forked tail than the nominate form .
  • Chlorostilbon mellisugus napensis Gould , 1861 occurs in northeastern Peru. The blue of the chest is less, if not limited to the throat area. Overall, it's a bit smaller.
  • Chlorostilbon mellisugus peruanus Gould , 1861 is common in southeastern Peru and eastern Bolivia. The top of the head, the throat and the underside of the male glistens orange-green.

Prasitis vitticeps Simon , 1910 is now a synonym for C. m. napensis , Chlorostilbon caribaeus nanus from Berlepsch & Hartert , 1902 as a synonym for C. m. caribaeus considered.

Etymology and history of research

The first description of the blue-tailed emerald hummingbird was in 1758 by Carl von Linné under the scientific name Trochilus mellisugus . The type specimen came from the West Indies . In 1853 John Gould introduced the new genus Chlorostilbon . "Chlorostilbon" is made up of the Greek words "chlōros χλωρός " for "green" and "stilbōn στίλβων " for "shining". The Greeks gave Mercury the nickname Stilbōn, which is due to the verb "stilb" for "blink". The species name "mellisugus" comes from the Greek word "meli, melitos μελι, μελιτος " for "honey" and the Latin "sugere" for "suck". »Caribaeus« refers to the Caribbean , since the type specimen came from Curaçao . "Duidae" refers to the place where it was found, Mount Duida, "peruanus" to the country of Peru, "napensis" to the Río Napo . "Subfurcatus" is a Latin combination of "sub" for "something, a little" and "furcatus, furca" for "forked, fork". "Phoeopygus" is formed from "phaios φαιος " for "dark, gloomy" and "-pygos, pygē -πυγος, πυγη " for "-steißig, rump, rump". "Vitticeps" is a Latin word formation from "vitta" for "ribbon, stripes" and "-ceps, caput, capiti" for "crowned, head". "Nanus" is the Latin word for "dwarf", a word that can also be derived from the Greek "nanos νανος " for "dwarf".

literature

  • Ralf Bündgen, Guy Maxwell Kirwan in: Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal, David Andrew Christie , Eduardo de Juana: Blue-tailed Emerald (Chlorostilbon mellisugus) In: Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • Carl von Linné: Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis . 10th edition. tape 1 . Imprensis Direct Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm 1758 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • John Todd Zimmer , William Henry Phelps: New birds from Venezuela . In: American Museum novitates . No. 1544 , 1952, pp. 1–7 ( digitallibrary.amnh.org [PDF; 651 kB ]).
  • George Newbold Lawrence: Description of New Species of Buirds from Mexico, Central America, and South America, with a Note on Rallus longirostris . In: Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York . tape 10 , 1871, p. 1-21 ( biodiversitylibrary.org - 1874).
  • 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 ).
  • Johann Jakob von Tschudi: Avium conspectus quae in Republica Peruana reperiuntur et pleraeque observatae vel collectae suut in itinere . In: Archives for Natural History . tape 10 , no. 1 , 1844, pp. 262-317 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • John Gould: An introduction to the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds . Taylor & Francis, London 1861 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • John Gould: A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds . tape 5 , delivery 5. Taylor and Francis, London 1853 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Frederick Herschel Waterhouse: The dates of publication of some of the zoological works of the late John Gould, FRS RH Porter, London 1885 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Eugène Louis Simon: Catalog général des Trochilidés observés jusqu'a ce jour dans la république de l'Ecuador . In: Revue française d'ornithologie (=  Année 2 ). tape 1 , no. 17 , 1910, pp. 257-270 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch, Ernst Hartert: On the Birds of the Orinoco region . In: Novitates Zoologicae . tape 9 , no. 1 , 1902, pp. 1-135 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ). * Frank Gary Stiles: A New Species of the Emerald Hummingbird from the Sierra De Chribiquete, Southeastern Colombia, with a Review of the C. Mellisugus Complex . In: The Wilson Bulletin . tape 108 , no. 1 , 1996, p. 1–27 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 1.7 MB ]).

Web links

Commons : Blue-tailed Emerald Hummingbird ( Chlorostilbon mellisugus )  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ralf Bündgen u. a.
  2. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  3. ↑ George Newbold Lawrence, p. 13.
  4. ↑ a b John Todd Zimmer u. a (1952), p. 4.
  5. ^ Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch (1887), p. 297.
  6. ↑ a b Carl von Linné, p. 121.
  7. ↑ Johann Jakob von Tschudi, p. 297.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f John Gould (1861), p. 177.
  9. ^ Eugène Louis Simon, p. 263.
  10. ^ Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch (1902) a. a., p. 86.
  11. ^ John Gould (1853), plate 355 plus text
  12. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 103.
  13. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 249.
  14. ↑ George Newbold Lawrence, p. 14.
  15. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 370.
  16. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 304.
  17. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 404.
  18. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 266.

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to Frederick Herschel Waterhouse p. 47, Plate 355 appeared as part of Delivery 5 from 1853. Here Gould assigned the Chlorostilbon prasinus , a synonym for the blue-tailed emerald hummingbird ( Chlorostilbon mellisugus ( Linnaeus , 1758)) to the genus.