Scissor-tailed star hummingbird
| Scissor-tailed star hummingbird | ||||||||||||
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Scissortail Star Hummingbird illustrated by John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Doricha enicura | ||||||||||||
| ( Vieillot , 1818) |
The scissor- tailed hummingbird ( Doricha enicura ) or scissor- tailed hummingbird is a species of bird from the hummingbird family (Trochilidae) that is distributed from southern Mexico , through Guatemala , Honduras and El Salvador . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern . The species is considered to be monotypical .
features
The male scissor-tail star hummingbird reaches a body length of about 11 to 12.5 cm and a weight of about 2.3 g. The female is slightly smaller at 8 to 9 cm with a weight of approx. 2.6 g. The male has a long, slightly curved black bill. The head and top are green. There is a white spot behind the eye. The chin is blackish, the ring collar pinkish-purple. A white band borders the lower breast, the belly is green with a white center. The very long forked tail has green central control feathers, the rest are black. The female is green on the top and also has the white point behind the eye. The underside is cinnamon-colored to yellow-brown. The ear covers are streaked with black. The tail is significantly shorter than that of the male, with the central control feathers also being green. The outer control feathers are cinnamon with a wide black band and white tips. Young birds are similar to adult females.
Behavior and nutrition
The scissor-tailed hummingbird gets its nectar mainly from the middle strata , often very close to the ground. Its diet is a mixture of nectar and smaller arthropods .
Brood
All that is known about the breeding biology of the scissor-tailed hummingbird is that it breeds in Chiapas at least in October. A scientific description of the nest or the eggs is not yet known.
Vocalizations
The singing of the scissor-tailed star hummingbird is not well understood. While he is sitting on a branch, he calls out a fairly hard, fast chirp, which he often repeats quickly or gently warps.
distribution and habitat
The scissor-tailed star hummingbird prefers open areas in the forest, woodlands, secondary vegetation and undergrowth at altitudes of 1000 to 3000 meters.
migration
The scissor-tailed star hummingbird is commonly considered to be a resident bird with seasonal absences, presumably related to the availability of adequate food sources.
Etymology and history of research
The first description of the star hummingbird was in 1818 by Louis Pierre Vieillot under the scientific name Trochilus enicurus . The type specimen he ordered mistakenly Brazil to. In 1854 Martin Hinrich Lichtenstein introduced the new genus Doricha . " Doricha " was a Greek hetaera who had a relationship with Charaxos . The species name »enicura« is derived from the Greek »henikos ἑνικος « for »single« and »-ouros, oura -ουρος, ουρα « for »-tailed, tail«.
literature
- Andrew Townsend Peterson, Peter Boesman in: Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal , David Andrew Christie, Eduardo de Juana: Slender Sheartail (Doricha enicura) 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 .
- Louis Pierre Vieillot: Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc. Par une société de naturalistes et d'agriculteurs . tape 23 . Deterville, Paris 1818 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
- Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach: Enumeration of the hummingbirds or trochilids in their true natural relationship, including the key to their systematics . In: Journal of Ornithology . 2 (separate issue), 1854, p. 1-24 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Web links
- Doricha enicura inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Slender Sheartail ( Doricha enicura ) . Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings for Slender Sheartail (Doricha enicura) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Scissortail Star Hummingbird ( Doricha enicura ) at Avibase; accessed on September 26, 2019.
- Doricha enicura in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- xeno-canto: Sound recordings - Scissor- tailed star hummingbird ( Doricha enicura )
- Slender Sheartail (Doricha enicura) in the Encyclopedia of Life . Retrieved September 26, 2019.
Individual evidence
Remarks
- ↑ Doricha henicura assigned a synonym for the scissor- tailed star hummingbird to the new genus .