Green Elvira Hummingbird
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Green Elvira Hummingbird ( Elvira chionura ) |
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The green Elvira hummingbird ( Elvira chionura ) is a species of bird in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). Its distribution area includes parts of the countries Costa Rica and Panama . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .
features
The green elvira hummingbird reaches a body length of about 7.5 to 8 cm, with the males weighing 3.3 g and the females 3.1 g. The straight black beak is pink only from the base of the lower mandible to half of it. The legs are dark gray. The upper side of the males is bronze-green, with a gradation into copper-bronze on the upper tail-coverts and the central control feathers . The three outer control springs are white with black spots. The underside glitters mostly green, the belly, the cloaca and the under tail-coverts are white. The females are dull white on the underside with some green on the side and bronze-green flanks. The central control springs are bronze, the outer white ones are crossed by a diagonal black band. Young male birds have a duller green color on the underside than adult specimens and have grayish yellow-brown feather fringes. Young female birds are grayer on the underside than adult specimens. The green on the side is much more matte paired with a bit of bronze and is more sparse. Both sexes of the young birds have grayish yellowish brown fringes on the face, on the top of the head, on the neck and on the rump feathers .
Behavior and nutrition
The birds get their nectar from flowering bushes and tendrils that are found on the edges of and inside the forest. They also feed on flying arthropods , which they hunt. One of the trees they fly to to absorb nectar is u. a. Inga edulis .
Vocalizations
The singing consists of a sustained, thin, scratchy twittering, mixed with whirring and gurgling tones that change in pitch. The tones include soft scratchy chirps during the search for food and high-pitched and whirring sounds during pursuit.
Reproduction
Their breeding season is during the rainy season from June to November. Two to five males can then be found on the leks , but often only a single male. So far nothing is known about nest building, incubation duration and other breeding behavior.
distribution and habitat
The green Elvira hummingbird lives in moist mountain forests, in shady coffee plantations and gardens as well as old secondary vegetation. In the woods, males usually move from the upper undergrowth to the treetops. The females tend to be in the undergrowth. It is mostly present at altitudes between 750 and 2000 meters, but in Costa Rica it mainly breeds at altitudes between 1000 and 1700 meters.
migration
The migration behavior of the Green Elvira Hummingbird has not yet been adequately researched. In Costa Rica they occur outside the breeding season at high altitudes below and above the breeding areas.
Subspecies
The Green Elvira Hummingbird is considered monotypical .
Etymology and history of research
Originally John Gould described the Green Elvira Hummingbird under the name Trochilus (Thaumatias?) Chionura . He gave the area around David in the Chiriquí province as the collection point . In 1866, Étienne Mulsant , Jules Verreaux and Édouard Verreaux introduced the new generic name Elvira for the green Elvira hummingbird. One can only speculate about the reason for the naming, as there is no reference to the origin of the name in the publication. In the same publication, the authors also mention the Cuban species Zephyritis (Calypte) elvirae , a name that is now synonymous with the bee elf . Since Mulsant emulated his role model Alphonse de Lamartine at the Lycée Lamartine in Belley , the name of his muse Julie Charles (1784–1817) could be dedicated, whom Lamartine idealized in his poem À Elvire . The species name is a combination of the Greek words "chiōn, chionos χιων, χιονος " for "snow" and "-ouros, oura -ουρος, ουρα " for "-tailed, tail".
literature
- Frank Garfield Stiles III, Peter Boesman in: Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal, David Andrew Christie , Eduardo de Juana: White-tailed Emerald (Elvira chionura) in Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
- Catherine Ann Lindell, Ginger M. Thurston: Bird Pollinator Visitation is Equivalent in Island and Plantation Planting Designs in Tropical Forest Restoration Sites . In: Sustainability . tape 5 , 2013, p. 1177–1187 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 518 kB ]).
- James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
- John Gould: On six new species of Humming Birds . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . tape 18 , no. 211 , 1850, pp. 162-144 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
- Étienne Mulsant, Jules Verreaux, Édouard Verreaux: Essai d'une classification méthodique des trochilidés ou oiseaux-mouches . In: Mémoires de la Société impériale des sciences naturelles de Cherbourg (= 2 ). tape 2 , 1866, p. 152-242 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
- Arnould Locard: Étienne Mulsant, sa vie, ses œuvres . In: Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences, belles-lettres & arts de Lyon. Class des sciences . tape 25 , 1882, p. 259-309 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Web links
- Elvira chionura in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2017.3. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - White-tailed Emerald ( Elvira chionura ) . Retrieved May 18, 2018.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of White-tailed Emerald (Elvira chionura) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Green Elvira hummingbird ( Elvira chionura ) at Avibase; accessed on May 18, 2018.
- Elvira chionura in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved on 2018-05-18.
- xeno-canto: Sound recordings - White-tailed Emerald ( Elvira chionura )
- Green Elvira hummingbird (Elvira chionura) in the Encyclopedia of Life . Retrieved May 18, 2018.