Snow cap hummingbird

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Snow cap hummingbird
Snow cap hummingbird ♂

Snow cap hummingbird ♂

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre : Microchera
Type : Snow cap hummingbird
Scientific name of the  genus
Microchera
( Gould , 1858)
Scientific name of the  species
Microchera albocoronata
( Lawrence , 1855)

The snow cap Hummingbird ( Microchera albocoronata ) is a species of bird in the family of hummingbirds (Trochilidae). The distribution area includes parts of Panama , Costa Rica and Honduras . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

features

Snow cap hummingbird ♀

The snow cap hummingbird reaches a body length of about 6 to 6.5 centimeters with a weight of about 2.5 grams. The short straight beak and feet are black. The males have a white skull. The rest of the top is reddish purple, which is lightest at the rump. The underside is black with a green tint on the throat and a purple tint on the rest. The tail is predominantly white, only the outer third is black. The central control feathers are bronze, the top of the females is green. The underside is uniformly grayish white. The tail is similar to that of the males, but the feathers are streaked with narrow white spots.

behavior

When foraging, they usually move in the lower and middle strata . Here they fly towards blooming hedges and trees along the edges of the forest, more rarely in the interior of the forest. They fly to reddish plants from the genus Warszewiczia or Hamelia , mimosa plants from the genus Inga or Pithecellobium , cucurbits from the genus Gurania , Norantea and Cavendishia from the heather family . Although the males stand out with their significant white skull, females and immature specimens seem to be in the majority. Both sexes like to move the tail back and forth. The males are very aggressive and territorial towards other snow cap hummingbirds, but are usually inferior to other larger hummingbirds.

Reproduction

As a nest, they build a tiny chalice out of tree fern fibers, leaves and spider webs. The nest is then decorated with moss and lichen. They build this on the lower branches of trees or on vines that hang down from larger trees at a height of 1.7 to 3 meters. The breeding season is from January to May. During the breeding season, the males sing on branches at heights between 4 and 8 meters. There are occasional car chases and fights. They like to breed on the Caribbean side at altitudes between 300 and 800 meters, occasionally even up to 1000 meters.

Vocalizations

The call sounds like a gentle, light-sounding and dry tsip . In the case of aggressive interaction, this can turn into siren-like tones and chirping. The males emit a gentle rattling and trilling medley of tsew, tttt-tsew or tsip-tsi tsippy tsippy tsippy tsip-tik tsew sounds.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area of ​​the snow cap hummingbird

Snow cap hummingbirds prefer to stay in the lowlands outside of the breeding season, but sometimes migrate at altitudes of up to 1400 meters. They are most commonly found in Costa Rica in the Cordillera Central , less often in the Cordillera de Talamanca . Occasionally they find their way into the Cordillera de Guanacaste in the province of Guanacaste . At least in March they can be found in the El Copé National Park . There are reports of occurrences from the extreme west of the Chiriquí province on Cerro Pando , on both slopes of the Cordillera del Chucu in the Veraguas province , in the Colón province and in the Altos De Campana National Park .

Subspecies

So far, two subspecies are known:

  • Microchera albocoronata albocoronata ( Lawrence , 1855) - The nominate form occurs in the western central area of ​​Panama.
  • Microchera albocoronata parvirostris ( Lawrence , 1865) - The subspecies occurs from southern Honduras to Costa Rica.

Etymology and history of research

George Newbold Lawrence published the snow cap hummingbird under the name Mellisuga albo-coronata . The type specimen was collected by Joseph King Merritt in the province of Veraguas in what was then the Republic of New Granada. In 1858 John Gould introduced the new genus Microchera with the delivery of 16 of his hummingbird tablets . This name is made up of the Greek words » mikros μικρος « for »small« and »chēra χηρα « for »widow«. The species name »albocoronata« is made up of the Latin »albus« for »white« and »coronatus« for »crowned«. After all, "parvirostris" is a Latin word formation from "parvus" for "small" and "-rostris, rostrum" for "-beaked, beak".

literature

  • Robert Sterling Ridgely, John A. Gwynne: A Guide to the Birds of Panama: With Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras . Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1989, ISBN 978-0-691-02512-4 ( books.google.de ).
  • Frank Garfield Stiles III, Alexander Frank Skutch , Dana Gardner: A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica . Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, New York 1990, ISBN 978-0-8014-9600-4 .
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • George Newbold Lawrence: Description of a New Species of Humming Bird of the Genus Mellisuga Brisson, with a note on Trochilus aquila Bourcier . In: Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York . tape 6 , 1858, pp. 137–142 ( biodiversitylibrary.org - first edition: 1855).
  • George Newbold Lawrence: Description of new species of Birds of the families Paridae, Vireonidae, Tirannidae and Trochilidae, with notes on Myiarchus Panamensis . In: Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia . tape 17 , 1865, pp. 37-39 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • John Gould: A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds . tape 2 , delivery 16. Taylor and Francis, London 1858 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Frederick Herschel Waterhouse: The dates of publication of some of the zoological works of the late John Gould, FRS RH Porter, London 1885 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).

Web links

Commons : Snow cap hummingbird ( Microchera albocoronata )  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Ridgely & Gwynne 1989, p. 218.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Stiles III et al. 1990, p. 225.
  3. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds. worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b Lawrence 1855, p. 37, plate 4.
  5. ↑ Lawrence 1865, p. 39.
  6. ^ Gould 1858, plate 116 and text.
  7. ↑ Waterhouse 1885, p. 52 (Here the year of publication, delivery with the plate in A monograph of the Trochilidæ is shown).
  8. ↑ Jobling 2010, p. 253.
  9. ↑ Jobling 2010, p. 39.
  10. ↑ Jobling 2010, p. 293.