Red flag elf

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Red flag elf
Red Flag Elves (Chaetocercus jourdanii) - three male birds and one female (center) (lithograph by Henry Constantine Richter after a drawing by John Gould, 1861)

Red Flag Elves ( Chaetocercus jourdanii ) - three male birds and one female (center)
(lithograph by Henry Constantine Richter after a drawing by John Gould , 1861)

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre : Dwarfs ( Chaetocercus )
Type : Red flag elf
Scientific name
Chaetocercus jourdanii
( Bourcier , 1839)

The Rufous-shafted woodstar ( Chaetocercus jourdanii ), sometimes Rosenelfe called, is a species of bird from the family of hummingbirds (Trochilidae). The species has a large range that includes the island of Trinidad as well as the countries of Venezuela and Colombia . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

features

The Red Flag Elf reaches a body length of about 7 cm, with the straight beak 1.3 cm long. The top of the male shimmers green. The purple throat is bordered at the bottom by a wide white band that extends into the side flanks. Behind the eye, the males have a thin white line of eyes. The rest of the bottom is green. On the flanks under the wings there is a large white spot that can only be seen in flight. The tail is strongly forked, with the base and the shaft of the tail feathers being reddish-brown in color. The top of the females is the same as that of the males, but they have dark ear-covers. The underside is white with a slight ocher tint and a weak, lighter sickle that stretches across the chest. The eye line behind the eye is light ocher in color. The central control feathers are dark green, the outer three pairs reddish-brown with a darker subterminal band.

behavior

Mostly you can see the birds sitting high up on open branches or sucking the nectar of blossoming trees. Their flight is similar to that of bees. Occasionally they also fly to the flowers of bushes of the middle strata in the woods or at the forest edges. Like many other small hummingbirds, they like to steal nectar from flowers that are guarded by larger hummingbird species or fly to plants that produce only little nectar and therefore do not promise sufficient yield for larger hummingbirds.

habitat

Preferred habitats are moist to wet forests and forest edges, older secondary tree landscapes, flowering gardens, and occasionally open areas that are not too far from forest areas. Usually they occur at altitudes between 900 and 2500 meters. They appear only irregularly and seem to move rather into the lower heights during the rainy season from May to November.

Reproduction

Melbourne Armstrong Carriker observed two breeding females in the Departamento de Norte de Santander in November.

Vocalizations

Their call sounds like thin, lisping tssit tones that they repeat three or four times.

Subspecies

Distribution area (green) of the red flag elf
A pair of red flag elves of the subspecies C. j. rosae am Nest
(lithograph by Henry Constantine Richter after a drawing by John Gould , 1857)

There are three known subspecies:

  • Chaetocercus jourdanii andinus Phelps & Phelps Jr , 1949 - This subspecies is distributed in northeast Colombia and western Venezuela. In Venezuela it can be found in the Sierra de Perijá in the state of Zulia , the Andes in the south of Táchira and the south of Lara . The color of the throat of the males is between magenta and purple.
  • Chaetocercus jourdanii rosae ( Bourcier & Mulsant , 1846) - Was initially regarded as a separate species Calothorax rosae and only later as a subspecies of the red flag elf. The subspecies is common in northern Venezuela. Here it is present in the Sierra de San Luis , in the state of Falcón , the northern Cordillera of Yaracuy and Dependencias Federales . The males have a magenta throat.
  • Chaetocercus jourdanii jourdanii ( Bourcier , 1839) - The nominate form occurs in northeastern Venezuela, in the mountains of the state of Sucre and in the north of Monagas as well as on Trinidad.

Etymology and history of research

Jules Bourcier described the Red Flag Elf under the name Ornismya Jourdanii . The type specimen came from Trinidad. In 1855, George Robert Gray introduced them to the new genus Chaetocercus . This name is made up of the Greek words "chaitē χαιτη " for "long, flying hair" and "kerkos κερκος " for "tail". The specific epithet »jourdanii« is dedicated to Claude Jourdan (1803–1873) from Lyon. John Gould wrote about the naming in his text on his board from 1861 that Jourdan was a zoologist and director of the Musée d'histoire naturelle - Guimet in Lyon. »Rosae« is Rose Duquaire (1799–1881) born. Dedicated to Mulsant. "Andinus" is the Latin word for "andin", from "Andinum" for " Andes ".

literature

  • Steven Leon Hilty, John A. Gwynne, Guy Tudor : Birds of Venezuela . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2002, ISBN 0-691-09250-8 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).
  • Steven Leon Hilty, William Leroy Brown: A guide to the birds of Colombia . Princeton University Press, Princeton 1986, ISBN 978-0-691-08372-8 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • Jules Bourcier: Description of quelques espèces nouvelle d'Oiseaux-Mouches . In: Revue Zoologique par La Société Cuvierienne . tape 2 , 1839, p. 294–295 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).
  • Jules Bourcier: Description et figures des trois espèces nouvelles d'oiseaux-mouches . In: Annales des sciences physiques et naturelles, d'agriculture et d'industrie . tape 3 , 1840, p. 225-228 ( online [accessed December 29, 2014]).
  • 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 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).
  • William Henry Phelps, William Henry Phelps, Jr .: Seven new subspecies of birds from Venezuela . In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . tape 62 , 1949, pp. 185–196 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).
  • George Robert Gray: Catalog of the genera and subgenera of birds contained in the British Museum . Printed by order of the Trustees, London 1855 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).
  • John Gould: A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds . tape 3 , delivery 21. Taylor and Francis, London 1861 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).
  • Frederick Herschel Waterhouse: The dates of publication of some of the zoological works of the late John Gould, FRS RH Porter, London 1885 ( online [accessed December 24, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : Red Flag Elf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steven Leon Hilty et al. a. (2002), p. 435.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Steven Leon Hilty u. a. (2002), p. 436.
  3. ↑ Steven Leon Hilty et al. a. (1986), p. 300.
  4. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  5. ^ A b William Henry Phelps, p. 185.
  6. ↑ Jules Bourcier et al. a. (1846), p. 316.
  7. ↑ a b Jules Bourcier (1839), p. 295.
  8. ↑ George Robert Gray, p. 22.
  9. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 98
  10. ↑ Jules Bourcier (1840), p. 228.
  11. ^ John Gould, plate 150 plus text, volume 3. This corresponds to delivery 21 from 1861.
  12. ↑ Frederick Herschel Waterhouse, p. 46. The year of publication, delivery with the plates in A monograph of the Trochilidæ , is shown here.
  13. ↑ Jules Bourcier et al. a. (1846), p. 317.
  14. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 47