Green thread elf

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Green thread elf
Green thread elf ♂

Green thread elf ♂

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre : Thread Elves ( Discosura )
Type : Green thread elf
Scientific name
Discosura conversii
( Bourcier & Mulsant , 1846)

The green thread elf ( Discosura conversii ) or thorntail elf is a species of bird from the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). The species has a large range that extends over the countries of Costa Rica , Panama , Colombia and Ecuador . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

Green thread elf ♀

features

The green thread elf reaches a body length of about 10.2 cm in the males and 6.6 cm in the females. The short straight beak is about 1 cm long. The skull and throat of the male glitter green. The rest of it shimmers green with a white rump band and white spots on the flanks. The steel-blue tail is deeply forked, the outer three pairs of control springs being elongated and pointed. The females are much smaller, the top is green with a white rump band. In addition, they have a wide white stripe on the cheeks. The green sides are streaked with white. The black tail is only slightly forked and has white spots.

behavior

You can often see them in large numbers on flowering trees. When foraging, they prefer to move in the higher strata . They prefer bush-like inflorescences such as those of mimosa and Inga species. Their flight is meandering and bee-like. They regularly hover under the large leaves of the tree canopy to hunt there. They also fly to plants such as the Stachytarpheta genus belonging to the verbena family . Other flowers are the genus Warszewiczia belonging to the red family , the genus Pithecellobium belonging to the mimosa family , the genus Clusia belonging to the Clusiaceae and plants of the Marcgraviaceae family , which serve as a source of nectar for them. In addition to the nectar, they also hunt small flies and wasps as a source of food.

Reproduction

In the valley of the Río Anchicaya they were observed during courtship in June.

Vocalizations

Most of the time they are calm. When they call, it sounds like a soft, squeaky sound that is used to communicate with conspecifics.

Distribution area

Distribution area (green) of the green thread elf

They rarely or often occur seasonally in damp forests, on the edges of forests and clearings with flowering trees. They are most often found on hills, but also move further in the lowlands. They move at altitudes around 1000 meters. In El Queremalin in the province of Valle del Cauca , they have been sighted up to 1400 meters. In Panama they occur on Cerro Chame in the Chiriquí province , in the Cordillera del Chucu in Veraguas province , on El Valle in the Coclé province , on Cerro Campana and Cerro Jefe in the Panamá province and in the east of the Darién province . Here they are relatively common at altitudes between 600 and 1200 meters. They are almost non-existent on the Caribbean-side slopes in Costa Rica, in the Cordillera Central and Cordillera de Talamanca at altitudes between 700 and 1400 meters. In the rainy season from June to August, they move down to 60 meters above sea level. In the western Andes of Ecuador they are distributed south to the province of El Oro .

Etymology and history of research

Jules Bourcier and Étienne Mulsant used the protonym Trochilus Conversii . The type specimen came from Bogota . It was not until 1850 that the new genus Discosura was introduced for the discus elves by Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte . Only later was the green thread elf added to the genus. The name “Discosura” is derived from the Greek words “diskos”  δίσκος for “plate, disk” and “oura”  οὐρά for “tail”. The specific epithet »conversii« is dedicated to the French naturalist Denis François Convers Bouillot (1799–1873), who later lived in Santa Fe de Bogotá .

Occasionally the green thread elf is assigned to the genus Popelairia ( Reichenbach , 1854) in the literature . The name originated from the bonnet thread elf ( Discosura popelairii ( Du Bus , 1846)) and is dedicated to Jean Baptiste Popelaire de Terloo (1810-1870).

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 ( books.google.de ).
  • Robert Sterling Ridgely, John A. Gwynne: A Guide to the Birds of Panama: With Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras . Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1989, ISBN 0-691-02512-6 ( books.google.de ).
  • Robert Sterling Ridgely, Paul J. Greenfield: Birds of Ecuador Field Guide: Status, Distribution, and Taxonomy . tape 1 . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2001, ISBN 0-8014-8720-X .
  • Frank Gary Stiles, Alexander Frank Skutch , Dana Gardner: A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica . Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, New York 1990, ISBN 0-8014-9600-4 .
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • Jules Bourcier, Étienne Mulsant: Description of the vingt espèces nouvelles d'oiseaux-mouches . In: Annales des sciences physiques et naturelles, d'agriculture et d'industrie . tape 9 , 1846, pp. 312-332 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte: Conspectus generum avium . tape 1 . EJ Brill, Leiden 1850 ( gallica.bnf.fr ).
  • Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach: Enumeration of the hummingbirds or trochilids in their true natural relationship with key to their synonymy . In: Journal of Ornithology . tape 2 , special issue, 1854, p. 1-24 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Bernard Amé Léonard Du Bus de Gisignies: Esquisses Ornithologiques; descriptions et figures d'oiseaux nouveaux ou peu connus . tape 2 . A. Vandale, Brussels 1846 ( books.google.de ).

Web links

Commons : Green thread elf ( Discosura conversii )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Steven Leon Hilty u. a., p. 264.
  2. ↑ a b Robert Sterling Ridgely et al. a. (1989), p. 212.
  3. ↑ a b c Frank Gary Stiles u. a. (1989), p. 217.
  4. ↑ Robert Sterling Ridgely et al. a. (2001), p. 347.
  5. ↑ Jules Bourcier et al. a., p. 313, plate 9.
  6. ^ Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, p. 81.
  7. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 137
  8. ↑ Jules Bourcier et al. a., p. 314
  9. ↑ Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach, p. 12.
  10. ↑ Bernard Amé Léonard Du Bus de Gisignies, plate 6 & text.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Both Trochilus longicaudus Gmelin and Ocreatus ligonicaudus Gould are synonyms for the discus elf.
  2. ↑ Since Bourcier and Mulsant wrote only about a French naturalist M. Convers who settled in Bogota, it could also be a different person. Denis François Convers Bouillot emigrated to Colombia. His son Julio Francisco Convers y Sánchez was born in Bogota in 1847. He was a doctor and homeopath. So it seems like they were a family of naturalists.