Little violet-eared hummingbird

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Little violet-eared hummingbird
Little violet-eared hummingbird illustrated by John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter

Little violet-eared hummingbird illustrated by John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter

Systematics
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Tribe : Polytmini
Genre : Violet- eared hummingbirds ( Colibri )
Type : Little violet-eared hummingbird
Scientific name
Colibri thalassinus
( Swainson , 1827)

The violet- eared hummingbird ( Colibri thalassinus ) is a species of bird in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae) that is found in Mexico , Guatemala , Honduras , El Salvador and Nicaragua . Occasionally he can be spotted wandering around the United States . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

features

The small violet-eared hummingbird reaches a body length of about 11.0 to 11.5 cm with a weight of about 5.7 g for males and 4.8 g for females. The straight black beak is about 1.25 to 1.33 times the size of the head. The plumage is almost entirely deep green, but it shimmers bluish green on the underside. The ear covers and the back of the eyes glitter purple. He has a bluish purple spot on his chest. The under tail covers are lined with a pale cinnamon color. The tail is bronze blue-green with a broad blackish subterminal band. There is no such thing as gender dimorphism . Young birds appear duller in color and the underside is dark green. Often they only have a reduced bluish purple spot of adult birds or this is completely absent.

Behavior and nutrition

He looks for his food from the lower strata to the treetops. He often sits tirelessly on exposed branches and sings. In the valley of Mexico he visits the species Salvia mexicana and Salvia cardinalis , which belong to the sage, in August and September . In S. mexicana it competes with the purple-forehead sapphire hummingbird ( Basilinna leucotis ) and in S. cardinalis with the blue- throated nymph ( Lampornis clemenciae ) for their nectar . Also Salvia elegans and Clinopodium macrostemum in sheltered places that can not freeze there, among the plants he flies to. At the end of the rainy season, when the lesser violet-eared hummingbird moves to lower altitudes, it seems to prefer the nectar of the fire bean ( Phaseolus coccineus ). He only occasionally visits Cuphea jorullelzsis to collect nectar. This includes insects that it catches in flight for its food. He observe z. B. the mosquitoes that he wants to hunt, from his seat before he starts the hunt. Often these attempts at hunting fail. As insects, he prefers medium-sized arthropods . Collecting insects from plants is not part of his hunting tactics. It is not uncommon to see several males in an area close together, but they do not really form a lek . Rather, this behavior seems to be due to the environmental conditions.

Reproduction

After the female has almost built her nest, she is ready to mate. It is the time when she looks for males. Very soon one or more males will follow. If there are several, a wild race for the female's favor begins. Once a male is by the side of the female, the potential competitors give up and return to their place. Now, the pair fly together side by side in the vicinity of the breeding territory . Occasionally they interrupt the route and separate. After a while the male returns and both fly on. The female then follows the male. The female's sexual excitement manifests itself in wild fluttering. The further courtship takes place by flying around wildly. After fertilization, the male no longer pays attention to the female. The incubation of the eggs and the rearing of the chicks is the sole responsibility of the female. The nest is built by the female in oak or cypress forests and, increasingly because of changes in environmental conditions, in dense, overgrown erosion channels that can be 20 to 30 meters wide and are surrounded by corn fields. Originally, however, nests 40 to 180 cm above the ground on exposed twigs, e.g. B. of Quercus crassipes and Quercus nitens to be their preferred breeding ground. In the erosion channels it is bushes like Salvia polystachya that are used to build nests. The female does not tolerate any other female in her breeding ground. 20 cm of grass threads hang down from the nest, which consists mainly of moss. Cobwebs hold the nest together. Plant waste decorates the interior of the nest. A clutch consists of two eggs. The breeding season is 16 to 17 days. In the first few days, the female only leaves the nest very briefly. After the nestlings have fledged after 19 to 28 days, they are fed by the mother for a few more days before they start looking for food themselves. When the nestlings fledge depends heavily on the availability of food.

Vocalizations

The song of the lesser violet-eared hummingbird often sounds like a dry rattle when foraging. His songs consist of rhythmic choppy metallic sounding chirping, which sounds like tiissik-tiissik ... and is interrupted by tik and tssi tones at irregular intervals . Sometimes it sounds like ch-it, ch-i-it, ch-it. ch-i-it ... . In the first year of life, males often emit a sustained series of harsh, panting whirring and rattling, which they sprinkle with sharp chirping.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area of ​​the small violet- eared hummingbird ( Colibri thalassinus , everything south of Nicaragua is the dwarf violet-eared hummingbird)

The lesser violet-eared hummingbird prefers moist to semi-moist pine and oak forests, evergreen forests and their edges, and clearings with flowers. In Mexico it occurs in the interior of Jalisco and the adjacent mountains at altitudes between 1000 and 3000 meters. In Oaxaca in the Benito Juárez National Park you can meet him at Cerro San Felipe . The distribution area stretches south to Honduras and El Salvador. In El Salvador it occurs in the Los Esesmiles cloud forest up to 2,438 meters, less in the drier areas below 1950 meters. In the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes in Guatemala, it occurs only seasonally at altitudes between 2070 and 2620 meters. It was first discovered in 1985 at the Casita volcano in Chinandega Department at 1250 meters. In the United States, it has been most commonly observed on the Edwards Plateau . Artificial feeders are their most common food source here.

Subspecies

The species is considered to be monotypical . Petasophora thalassina minor Berlioz , 1938 is now considered a synonym for the nominate form . Jacques Berlioz saw differences in the bellows of Honduras, but these were not so significant that they achieved subspecies status.

The small violet- eared hummingbird ( Colibri cyanotus ( Bourcier , 1843)) has long been considered a subspecies of the small violet- eared hummingbird . However, the dwarf violet-eared hummingbird lacks the striking blue tint and blue chin so that the species seems to be closer in color to the amethyst- eared hummingbird ( Colibri serrirostris ), while the small violet- eared hummingbird is more similar in color to the great violet- eared hummingbird ( Colibri coruscans ).

Etymology and history of research

The first description of the small violet-eared hummingbird was in 1827 by William Swainson under the scientific name Trochilus thalassinus . The type specimens came from Tamascaltepec and were collected by William Bullock (1773-1849) and his son William Bullock Jr. Only later was it added to the genus Colibri , newly created by Johann Baptist von Spix in 1824 , which this u. a. for the amethyst- eared hummingbird ( Colibri serrirostris ( Vieillot , 1816)) (Syn: Colibri crispus ). This name is the Spanish word for hummingbird and probably originally comes from the Caribbean. The species name »thalassinus« is the Latin word for »sea colors, sea green«. "Minor" is the Latin word for "smaller".

literature

  • Steve NG Howell, Sophie W. Webb: A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America . Oxford University Press, New York 1995, ISBN 0-19-854012-4 .
  • Steve NG Howell, Ian Lewington, Will Russell: Rare Birds of North America . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2014, ISBN 978-0-691-11796-6 ( books.google.de ).
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • William Swainson: A synopsis of the birds discovered in Mexico by W. Bullock FLS and HS, and Mr. William Bullock, jun . In: The Philosophical magazine: or Annals of chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, natural history and general science (=  2 ). tape 1 , no. 85 , 1827, pp. 433-442 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Johann Baptist von Spix: Avium species novae, quas in itinere annis MDCCCXVII – MDCCCXX per Brasiliam jussu et auspiciis Maximiliani Josephi I. Bavariae Regis Augustissini suscepto colleoit et descripsit . tape 1 . Impensis editores, Munich 1824 ( biodiversity library ).
  • Helmuth Otto Wagner: On the breeding biology of Mexican hummingbirds . In: Ornithological monthly reports . tape 50 , 1942, pp. 18-19 .
  • Helmuth Otto Wagner: Notes on the life history of the Mexican Violet-Ear . In: The Wilson Bulletin . tape 57 , no. 3 , 1945, p. 165–187 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 1.3 MB ]).
  • Helmuth Otto Wagner: Food and feeding habits of Mexican hummingbirds . In: The Wilson Bulletin . tape 58 , no. 2 , 1946, p. 69–93 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 1,4 MB ]).
  • Helmuth Otto Wagner: The molting periods of Mexican hummingbirds . In: The Auk . tape 74 , no. 2 , 1957, p. 251–257 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 321 kB ]).
  • Juan Carlos Martinez-Sanchez: Records of New or Little Known Birds for Nicaragua . In: The Condor . tape 91 , no. 2 , 1989, pp. 468–469 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 189 kB ]).
  • Donald Ryder Dickey, Adriaan Joseph van Rossem: The birds of El Salvador . In: Field Museum of Natural History (=  Zoological Series ). tape 23 , 1938, pp. 1-609 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Carlos Lara, Juan Francisco Ornelas: Forrajeo de artrópodos por dos colibríes mexicanos en condiciones de aviario . In: Ornitologia Neotropical . tape 9 , no. 1 , 1998, p. 41–50 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 170 kB ]).
  • David L. Lyon: A montane hummingbird territorial system in Oaxaca, Mexico . In: The Wilson Bulletin . tape 88 , no. 2 , 1976, p. 280–298 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 966 kB ]).
  • Donald H. Baepler: The avifauna of the Soloma region in Huehuetenango, Guatemala . In: The Condor . tape 64 , no. 2 , 1962, pp. 140–153 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  • Samuel B. Lyerly, Bernard F. Riess, Sherman Ross: Color Preference in the Mexican Violet-Eared Hummingbird, Calibri t. thalassinus (Swainson) . In: Behavior . tape 2 , no. 4 , 1950, p. 237-248 , JSTOR : 4532706 .
  • Martin Berger in Werner Nachtigall: Oxygen consumption of hummingbirds (Colibri coruscans and C. thalassinus) during level flight in BIONA Report III. Bird flight . Fischer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-437-20330-4 , pp. 307-314 .
  • Jacques Berlioz: Notes critiques sur des Trochilidés . In: L'Oiseau et la Revue Francaise d'Ornithologie (=  2 ). tape 8 , 1938, pp. 3-19 ( gallica.bnf.fr ).

Web links

Commons : Small violet- eared hummingbird ( Colibri thalassinus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Steve NG Howell et al. a. (2014), pp. 261–262.
  2. ↑ a b c d Steven NG Howell (1995) and a., pp. 398-399.
  3. ^ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1946) and a., p. 72.
  4. ^ Carlos Lara (1998) and a., p. 42.
  5. ^ David L. Lyon (1976), p. 283.
  6. ^ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1946) and a., p. 78.
  7. ^ Carlos Lara (1998) and a., p. 44.
  8. ^ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1945), p. 168.
  9. ^ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1945), p. 171.
  10. ↑ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1945), p. 172.
  11. ↑ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1945), p. 176.
  12. ↑ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1945), p. 178.
  13. ↑ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1945), p. 177.
  14. ^ Helmuth Otto Wagner (1945), p. 181.
  15. ↑ David L. Lyon (1976), p. 282.
  16. ^ Donald Ryder Dickey (1938) and a., p. 258.
  17. ↑ Donald H. Baepler (1962), p. 144.
  18. ↑ Juan Carlos Martinez-Sanchez (1962), p. 468.
  19. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  20. ↑ Jacques Berlioz, p. 9.
  21. ↑ AOU Classification Committee - North and Middle America Proposal Set 2016-C
  22. ^ William Swainson, p. 128
  23. ^ Johann Baptist von Spix, p. 80
  24. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 113
  25. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 383
  26. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 256

Remarks

  1. ↑ In addition, he ordered Colibri hirundinaceus , synonymous with breast band Fadenelfe ( Discosura langsdorffi ( Temminck , 1821)), Colibri leucopygus , a synonym for the Black Hummingbird ( Florisuga fusca ( Vieillot , 1817)), Colibri albogularis , a synonym for the white-throated hummingbird ( Leucochloris albicollis ( Vieillot , 1818)), Colibri helios , a synonym for the magnificent elf ( Lophornis magnificus ( Vieillot , 1817)) and Colibri mystax , a synonym for the butterfly elf ( Lophornis chalybeus ( Temminck , 1821)) belonging to the genus.