Red hummingbird

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Red hummingbird
Urosticte ruficrissa -NBII Image Gallery-a00178.jpg

Red hummingbird ( Urosticte ruficrissa )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Genre : White tip hummingbirds ( Urosticte )
Type : Red hummingbird
Scientific name
Urosticte ruficrissa
Lawrence , 1864

The red hummingbird ( Urosticte ruficrissa ) is a species of bird in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). The species has a large range that covers about 31,000 square kilometers in the South American countries of Colombia and Ecuador . The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern .

features

The male red hummingbird reaches a body length of about 9.5 centimeters, while the female is only about 8 centimeters tall. The straight black beak becomes about 20 millimeters long. Most of the male's plumage is shimmering green. Postocular (behind the eyes) there is a distinctive white stripe. The throat is darker and shimmers green. The fanned bronze-colored tail has white speckles on the central control feathers. In the area between the feet and the tail (lower butt, crissum) it is yellow-brown in color. However, this is hardly noticeable outdoors. The female is glossy green and also has a white spot postocularly. The lower part is white and streaked with thick green speckles, especially on the throat and chest. The green-black or bronze-colored, fanned tail has white speckles on the outer feathers.

Habitat

Distribution of the red hummingbird

The bird moves mainly in the interior of protected moist forest areas. This makes it very difficult to watch him. You rarely see him at the edges of the forest. Sometimes you can see it on the blooming Inga tree or Guaba , a tree from the mimosa family . You can see it at altitudes between 1300 and 2300 meters.

You can find it on the eastern slopes of the southern and central Andes of Colombia in the Departamento del Huila and the southeast of the Departamento de Nariño . The distribution area extends to the east of Ecuador.

behavior

The hummingbird gets its food from flowers close to the ground to tree tops. As a loner, it hovers from branch to branch or below the foliage to explore its surroundings. Sometimes he visits the widely scattered flowers of the undergrowth. Usually it sits inconspicuously inside the treetop.

Subspecies

In the past, the species Urosticte ruficrissa were regarded as a subspecies of the purple breasted hummingbird ( Urosticte benjamini ). Today the species is considered a separate taxon .

Etymology and history of research

The type specimen of the red hummingbird came from Ecuador. George Newbold Lawrence described the species under its current name Urosticte ruficrissa . »Urosticte« is derived from the Greek words »ourá ουρά « for »tail« and »stiktos στικτός « for »brightly spotted, blotchy«. The specific epithet »ruficrissa« is a Latin structure from »rufus« for »red, reddish« and »crissum« for »rump«.

literature

  • Steven L. Hilty , William L. Brown: A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1986, pp. 276 ff, ISBN 0-691-08371-1 .
  • Robert S. Ridgely , Paul J. Greenfield: Birds of Ecuador Field Guide. Volume 2, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY 2001, ISBN 0-8014-8720-X , pp. 267 ff.
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • George Newbold Lawrence: Descriptions of New Species of Birds of the Families Tanagridae, Cuculidae, and Trochilidae, with Note on Panterpe insignis . In: Annals of Lyceum of Natural History of New York . tape 8 , no. 4 , 1867, p. 41-46 ( biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed August 10, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : Red-hued Hummingbird  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IOC World Bird List Hummingbirds
  2. ↑ George Newbold Lawrence, p. 44.
  3. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 397.
  4. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 341.