Bronze tail

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Bronze tail
Shiny bronze tails drawn by John Gould (1804–1881) & Henry Constantine Richter (1821–1902)

Shiny bronze tails drawn by John Gould (1804–1881) & Henry Constantine Richter (1821–1902)

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre : Thorn-billed hummingbirds ( Chalcostigma )
Type : Bronze tail
Scientific name
Chalcostigma heteropogonous
( Boissonneau , 1840)

The bronze shining tail ( Chalcostigma heteropogon ), sometimes also called thorn-billed shining tail , is a species of bird from the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). The species has a large range that includes the South American countries Colombia and Venezuela . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

features

The male bronze tail reaches a body length of about 13 centimeters, while the female is only about 10 centimeters tall. Both sexes have a relatively short beak 13 millimeters long. The parting, the crown and the throat of the male are emerald green. The bronze-green of the front part of the upper side becomes red-bronze at the rump up to the upper tail covers. At the end of the emerald green throat, about breast level, the color turns pinkish-violet and narrows down to a punk similar to the shape of a triangle. The rest of the underside is adorned with a dull olive. The female is very similar but has round green spots on the throat. The violet is also missing on the chest. The tail is noticeably shorter than that of the male, which explains the smaller size.

distribution and habitat

The species occurs in smaller Krummholz colonies as well as in scrub at altitudes between 2900 and 3500 meters. It is present in the extreme west of Venezuela near Páramo de Tamá in the south of Táchira and the border areas of northeast Colombia. There he moves in the typical Páramo vegetation of the local mountain valleys.

behavior

The hummingbird is usually a loner. He gets his food by briefly holding on to the respective flowers. Its soaring flight is relatively slow compared to other hummingbird species. It is very territorial and defends its territory quite aggressively. You therefore practically never see him in groups when foraging on flowering trees. You can often see him sitting on cliffs and ledges.

Subspecies

Distribution area of ​​the bronze tail

At the moment there are no known subspecies of the bronze tail. He is considered monotypical .

Etymology and history of research

Auguste Boissonneau described the hummingbird under the name Ornismya heteropogon . The type specimen came from Bogotá de Santa Fé . It was later assigned to the genus Chalcostigma . This name is derived from the Greek words » χαλκός chalkós « for »bronze, bronze colored« and » στίγμα stígma « for »feature, marking«. The specific epithet heteropogon is a Greek structure from " ἕτερος heteros " for "different" and " πώγων pṓgōn " for "beard".

literature

  • Steven Leon Hilty , William Leroy Brown : A guide to the birds of Colombia . Princeton University Press, Princeton 1986, ISBN 0-691-08372-X ( online [accessed July 13, 2014]).
  • Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee, William H. Phelps , Guy Tudor : A Guide to the Birds of Venezuela . Princeton University Press, Princeton 1992, ISBN 0-691-08205-7 ( online [accessed July 13, 2014]).
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • Auguste Boissonneau: Nouvelles espèces d'Oiseaux-Mouches de Santa-Fé de Bogota . In: Revue Zoologique par La Société Cuvierienne . tape 2 , 1839, p. 354–356 ( online [accessed July 13, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : Bronze Shiny Tail  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  2. ↑ Auguste Boissonneau, p. 355.
  3. ↑ Auguste Boissonneau, p. 354. Even if the volume mentions 1839 as the year of first description, this article was not published until 1840.
  4. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 98.
  5. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 191.