Eagle beak

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Eagle beak
Eutoxeres aquila 2.jpg

Eagle's bill ( Eutoxeres aquila )

Systematics
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Subfamily : Hermits (Phaethornithinae)
Genre : Eagle- billed hummingbirds ( Eutoxeres )
Type : Eagle beak
Scientific name
Eutoxeres aquila
( Bourcier , 1847)

The eagle's bill or white-throated sickle- beak ( Eutoxeres aquila ) is a species of bird in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae).

features

The eagle beak reaches a body length of 13.5 cm. Its physique is muscular and strong, the plumage is simple, in contrast to most other hummingbird species. The top is glossy dark green, the underside is broadly black and white stippled. The tail is rounded and brownish green, the tips of the tail feathers are clearly colored white, the edges of the under- tail coverts are bright orange-ocher colored. The approximately 3 cm long beak is bent downwards by almost 90 °. The lower bill is yellow.

The subspecies show only minor morphological differences.

distribution

Spread of the eagle's beak

The distribution area includes Colombia , Costa Rica , Ecuador , Panama and Peru . In 2006, one specimen was caught in Venezuela .

Habitat and way of life

The eagle beak lives in the undergrowth of the tropical rainforest , secondary forests and forest edges and can be found up to heights of 2100 m. You can usually see him singly in the undergrowth. Its flight is slow, with audible flapping of its wings. It feeds mainly on the nectar of Heliconias , Columnea (from the Gesneria family ) and Centropogon species (from the Bellflower family ). When probing the corolla, it often clings to the plants. He also takes insects from tree trunks and branches. As far as is known, all breeding activities are carried out by the female, like all hummingbirds they lay two eggs.

Systematics

Three subspecies have been described:

  • Eutoxeres aquila salvini Gould , 1868 - Costa Rica to Western Colombia.
  • Eutoxeres aquila heterurus Gould , 1868 - Western Andes from southwestern Colombia to western Ecuador.
  • Eutoxeres aquila aquila ( Bourcier , 1847) - Eastern Andes from Colombia to Northern Peru.

Etymology and history of research

The type specimen of the eagle beak came from the collection of George Loddiges (1786–1846). It was collected by Gustav Wallis (1830–1878) in the area around Bogotá in the then Viceroyalty of New Granada. Jules Bourcier described the species under the name Trochilus Aquila . Later it was assigned to the genus Eutoxeres . This name is derived from the Greek words "eu εὖ " for "beautiful, good" and "toxērēs τοξηρης " for "bowed, archer". The specific epithet »aquila« is the Latin word »eagle«. The word "heterurus" is a word formation from the Greek words "heteros ἕτερος " for "different" and "-ouros, oura ουρά " for "-tailed, tail". »Salvini« is dedicated to Osbert Salvin (1835–1898), whom Gould calls a gentleman who really deserves this honor.

literature

  • Steven Leon Hilty , William Leroy Brown : A guide to the birds of Colombia . Princeton University Press, Princeton 1986, ISBN 978-0-691-08372-8 ( online [accessed May 27, 2014]).
  • Thomas Scott Schulenberg , Douglas Forrester Stotz , Daniel Franklin Lane, John Patton O'Neill , Theodore Albert Parker III : Birds of Peru . Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 2007, ISBN 978-0-7136-8673-9 .
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • Carlos Rengifo, Marja H. Bakermans, Roger Puente, Andrew Vitz, Amanda D. Rodewald, Mario Zambrano: First Record of the White-Tipped Sicklebill (Eutoxeres aquila aquila: Trochilidae) for Venezuela . In: The Wilson Journal of Ornithology . tape 119 , no. 2 , 2007, ISSN  1559-4491 , p. 292-295 .
  • Jules Bourcier: Description de quinze espèces Trochilidées du cabinet de M. Loddiges . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . tape 15 , no. 171 , 1847, pp. 42–47 ( online [accessed June 6, 2014]).
  • John Gould: On some additional Species of the Genus Eutoxeres . In: Annals and Magazine of Natural history including Zoology, Botany, and Geology (=  4 ). tape 1 , 1868, p. 455–457 ( online [accessed June 6, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : White-throated sickle-beak ( Eutoxeres aquila )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Thomas Scott Schulenberg u. a., p. 212
  2. ↑ a b c d Steven Leon Hilty u. a., pp. 256-257
  3. ↑ a b c d Carlos Rengifo u. a., pp. 292-295
  4. ↑ Steven Leon Hilty et al. a., p. 250
  5. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  6. ↑ a b c John Gould, p. 456
  7. ↑ a b c Jules Bourcier, p. 42
  8. ↑ Jules Bourcier, p. 43
  9. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 154
  10. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 52
  11. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 191