Gray-bellied sylph
| Gray-bellied sylph | ||||||||||
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Gray- bellied sylph ( Taphrolesbia griseiventris ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||
| Taphrolesbia | ||||||||||
| Simon , 1918 | ||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||
| Taphrolesbia griseiventris | ||||||||||
| ( Taczanowski , 1883) |
The gray- bellied sylph ( Taphrolesbia griseiventris ) is a species of bird from the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). The species is endemic to the South American country Peru and only occurs there in the central Andes of northern Peru. The IUCN assesses the population as critically endangered.
features
The male gray-bellied sylph reaches a body length of about 14 to 17 centimeters, while the female is only about 14 centimeters tall. The straight black beak becomes about 14 millimeters long. This makes the gray-bellied sylph a relatively large hummingbird. The top is green to blue-green. Postocular (behind the eyes) there is a white spot. The long, green, widely diversified tail is streaked with orange. The lower part is mainly light gray in the male and slightly yellow-brown in the female. A steel-blue spot adorns the male's neck. This spot is not present in the female. The tail of the female is also slightly shorter than that of the male.
Habitat
The distribution area of the gray-bellied sylph is in the north-western Andes of Peru. Here it occurs in the southern Cajamarca to the west of Huánuco . The bird prefers areas with a semi-arid climate . He prefers rocky areas in deep gorges and moves at heights between 2750 and 3200 meters. It can be found on steep slopes near cacti , agaves , bromeliads , bushes or other xerophytic plants. It is also rarely found in cultivated land. But here he was u. a. observed in eucalyptus .
Subspecies
There are no known subspecies of Taphrolesbia griseiventris . The species, which was first discovered in Paucal in the Cajamarca region, is considered to be monotypical . A classification in the biological system turns out to be difficult. The gray-bellied sylph is most closely related to the genera Polyonymus and Sappho .
Etymology and history of research
The first description of the gray-bellied sylph was in 1883 by Władysław Taczanowski under the scientific name Cynanthus griseiventris . He got the type specimen from the collection of Professor Antonio Raimondi from Lima . Only later was it added to the genus Taphrolesbia by Eugène Simon .
The generic name Taphrolesbia is made up of the Greek words tephra τεφρα for "ash" and Lesbias Λεσβιας for "woman from Lesbos ". The specific epithet griseiventris is derived from the Latin words griseus for "gray" and venter, ventris for "belly".
literature
- Jon Fjeldså , Niels Krabbe : Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America . Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1990, ISBN 87-88757-16-1 .
- 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: A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 978-0-19-854634-4 .
- Władysław Taczanowski: Description of the espèces nouvelles de la collection péruvienne de M. le Dr. Raimondi de Lima . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . No. 1 , 1883, p. 70-72 ( online [accessed January 22, 2012]).
Web links
- Taphrolesbia griseiventris inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Gray-bellied Comet ( Taphrolesbia griseiventris ) . Retrieved January 1, 2012.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Gray-bellied Comet (Taphrolesbia griseiventris) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Gray bellied sylph ( Taphrolesbia griseiventris ) at Avibase; Retrieved January 1, 2012.
- Taphrolesbia griseiventris in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- xeno-canto: Sound recordings - Gray-bellied Comet ( Taphrolesbia griseiventris )