Flaming Hummingbird

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Flaming Hummingbird
Flaming Hummingbird (male)

Flaming Hummingbird (male)

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Subfamily : Topazes (topazini)
Genre : Topaz Hummingbirds ( Topaza )
Type : Flaming Hummingbird
Scientific name
Topaza pyra
( Gould , 1846)

The flame hummingbird ( Topaza pyra ) is a species of bird in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). The species has a large range that includes the South American countries Brazil , Colombia , Ecuador , Peru and Venezuela . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

features

The male flame hummingbird reaches a body length of about 19 to 19.5 cm, while the female is only about 13 to 13.5 cm tall. The thick, relatively short, curved black beak becomes about 25 mm long. Both males and females weigh around 10 grams. Both sexes resemble the red-necked topaz hummingbird ( Topaza pella ). The male's head and chest band are black. The throat glitters strongly golden green. While the front back is dark red, the color on the rear back turns gold. The tail-coverts are green. The belly shines dark copper red. The dark red-brown elytra are blackish below. The black-brown wings can only be seen during flight. The control feathers shine dark green but turn blackish purple on the sides. He has brown feet. The female has a golden bronze green shimmer with a reddish throat spot. The blackish purple tail is shaded ocher on the outer feathers.

Habitat

The hummingbird lives in the rainforests of tropical zones , open forest clearings , along rivers and the edges of the savannah at heights between 100 and 300 meters.

behavior

It prefers to feed on insects. It is seldom seen when hummingbirds search for nectar on flowers. To hunt, he either rushes from the branch to the prey, catches the insects floating above water or simply steals cobwebs.

Subspecies

Distribution of the flame hummingbird

So far, two subspecies of the flame hummingbird are known.

  • Topaza pyra pyra ( Gould , 1846)
  • Topaza pyra amaruni Hu , Joseph & Agro , 2000

T. p. amaruni differs in that the feathers on the shin are significantly black. The nasal pit, which in T. p. pyra is present in T. p. amaruni either not present at all or only weakly developed.

Considerations to combine the red-necked topaz hummingbird and the flame hummingbird in one species have so far been rejected by the South American Classification Committee .

Etymology and history of research

Topaza pyra painted by John Gould

John Gould described the flame hummingbird as Trochilus pyra . He named the Rio Negro in Brazil as the site . Only later was it assigned to the new genus Topaza introduced by George Robert Gray in 1840 . This name is of Latin origin and is derived from "topazus" for "green, jasper green". The Greek epithet »pyra πυρα « means »fire, light signal«. "Amurun" is a Quechua word and means anaconda .

literature

  • Da-Shih Hu, Leo Joseph, David Agro: Distribution, Variation, and Taxonomy of Topaza Hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae) . In: Ornitologia Neotropical . tape 11 , no. 2 , 2000, pp. 123–142 (English, online [PDF; 343 kB ; accessed on June 20, 2014]).
  • Steven Leon Hilty, William Leroy Brown : A guide to the birds of Colombia . Princeton University Press, Princeton 1986, ISBN 0-691-08372-X (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • Robert Sterling Ridgely, Paul J. Greenfield: Birds of Ecuador Field Guide: Field Guide . tape 2 . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2001, ISBN 0-8014-8721-8 (English).
  • Rolf Grantsau : The hummingbirds of Brazil . Expressão e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro 1988, ISBN 85-208-0101-3 .
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 (English).
  • John Gould: On twenty new species of Trochilidae or Humming Birds . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . tape 14 , no. 164 , 1846, pp. 85-90 (English, online [accessed June 20, 2014]).
  • George Robert Gray: A list of the genera of birds: with their synonyma an indication of the typical species of each genus. Compiled from various sources . Richard and John E. Taylor, London 1840 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed June 20, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : Flaming Hummingbird  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  2. a b John Gould, p. 85
  3. a b Da-Shih Hu u. a., p. 130
  4. PROPOSAL (# 170) Lump Topaza pyra into Topaza pella ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum.lsu.edu
  5. George Robert Gray, p. 13
  6. James A. Jobling, p. 388
  7. James A. Jobling, p. 326
  8. Da-Shih Hu et al. a., p. 131