Turquoise throat elf

Turquoise throat elf
	Turquoise throat elf ♀
Systematics
Class :	Birds (aves)
Order :	Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family :	Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre :	Myrtis
Type :	Turquoise throat elf
Scientific name of the genus
	Myrtis
	Reichenbach , 1854
Scientific name of the species
	Myrtis fanny
	( Lesson , 1838)

The turquoise-throated elf ( Myrtis fanny ) is a sailing bird in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). It occurs in the South American countries Ecuador and Peru . The IUCN classifies the population as Least Concern .

features

The male turquoise throat elf reaches a body length of about 9 to 9.5 cm. The female is slightly smaller and grows to between 8 and 8.5 cm. The slightly curved beak makes about 18 mm. The top of the male is bronze-green with small white spots on the sides. The aquamarine blue throat has a purple border in the lower area. The underside is decorated with a washed-out white color with green on the flanks. The long forked tail is bronze green. The females are similar to the males, but have a completely yellowish underside with some white in the abdomen. While the control feathers are bronze-green, the outer ones are colored black and have a noticeable white coloring at the end. The tail is a little shorter in the females.

distribution and habitat

Their natural habitat are the semi-humid Andean slopes with scattered trees, agaves and gardens. Here you can find them at altitudes between 700 and 3200 meters.

behavior

They usually sit in branches that aren't too far from the ground. In doing so, they behave territorially . Their flight is faster and less like the flight of a bee than is the case with other elves. During courtship , they fly a U-shaped train. The males thus commute before the females. They emit a series of thin ti-ti-ti sounds, which merge into a deep aah aah aah in the lower part of the U-flight .

Subspecies

Distribution area of the turquoise throat elf

Two subspecies have been described, which differ in their coloration and distribution area:

Myrtis fanny fanny ( Lesson , 1838) The nominate form occurs in the tropical to subtropical slopes of the Andes from Ecuador via Peru to almost the Chilean border, which slope towards the Pacific. Every now and then you can see them in the Arequipa region . In Ecuador, its distribution area extends from the valley of the Río Mira in the province of Carchi over the north of Pichinchas (almost to Quito ) over Tungurahua to the province of Loja .

Myrtis fanny megalura Zimmer , 1953 In contrast to the nominate form, this subspecies has a slightly longer tail. The underside of the female is somewhat paler. Subspecies occurs in northern Peru from the province of Cajabamba to the southeast of La Libertad and the extreme northwest of Huánuco .

In his analysis of the genus Myrtis , John Todd Zimmer mentioned that there may be another subspecies, as the coloration in northern Ecuador differs slightly from the nominate form in northern Peru. However, he also mentions that further research is required here.

Etymology and history of research

René Primevère Lesson first described the hummingbird under the name Ornismya fanny . Only later was it added to the genus Myrtis by Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach . The type specimen of the subspecies was captured by natural history collector Oscar Theodor Baron (1847–1926) on April 13, 1894 near the village of Malca in the province of Cajabamba .

The term "Myrtis" goes back to the Boeotian poet Myrtis from Anthedan, who lived in the fourth century.

The species name is a tribute to Françoise Victoire Rosalia Joséphine Gouÿe de Longuemare (1796–1873) born. Marsy, the wife of the naturalist and collector Agathe François Gouÿe de Longuemare (1792–1866). Lesson wrote:

“Nous donnons à ces oisseaux, dont nous ignorons la partie, le nom de madame Fanny gorge de Longuemares, dont le mari possède la collection la mieux préparée sans contredit d'oiseaux-mouches, et auquel nous unissent les liens d'une vielle amitié . "

The word »megalura« in the subspecies is derived from the Greek words »megalos μεγαλως « for »large« and »-ouros, oura -ουρος, ουρα « for »-tailed, tail«.

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 .
Robert Sterling Ridgely, Paul J. Greenfield: Birds of Ecuador Field Guide: Status, Distribution, and Taxonomy . tape 1 . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2001, ISBN 978-0-8014-8720-0 (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 978-0-8014-8721-7 .
James A. Jobling: A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 978-0-19-854634-4 .
John Todd Zimmer : Studies of Peruvian birds. No. 63, The hummingbird genera Oreonympha, Schistes, Heliothryx, Loddigesia, Heliomaster, Rhodopis, Thaumastura, Calliphlox, Myrtis, Myrmia, and Acestrura . In: American Museum novitates . No. 1604 , 1953, pp. 1–26 ( online [PDF; accessed January 26, 2012]).
René Primevère Lesson : Mémoires descriptif d'espèces de genre d'oiseaux nouveaux ou imparfaitement décrits . In: Annales des sciences naturelles. Zoologie et biologie animale . tape 9 , 1838, pp. 166-176 ( online [accessed January 26, 2012]).