Hillstar

Hillstar
female Andean hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Strisores
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Tribe:	Lesbiini
Genus:	Oreotrochilus Gould, 1847
Type species
Trochilus estella [1] d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838
Species
see text

The hillstars are hummingbirds of the genus Oreotrochilus. They are native to the Andes in South America.

The Urochroa hillstars are not closely related.

Species list

Their genus contains seven species: ^[2]

Genus Oreotrochilus – Gould, 1847 – seven species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Ecuadorian hillstar	Oreotrochilus chimborazo (Delattre & Bourcier, 1846) Three subspecies O. c. jamesonii O. c. chimborazo O. c. soderstromi	Ecuador and extreme southern Colombia.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Andean hillstar Male Female	Oreotrochilus estella (d'Orbigny, 1838)	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Green-headed hillstar	Oreotrochilus stolzmanni Salvin, 1895	southern Ecuador and northern and central Peru	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
White-sided hillstar Male Female	Oreotrochilus leucopleurus Gould, 1847	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Black-breasted hillstar Male Female	Oreotrochilus melanogaster Gould, 1847	Peru	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Wedge-tailed hillstar Male Female	Oreotrochilus adela (d'Orbigny, 1838)	Argentina and Bolivia	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Blue-throated hillstar	Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus Sornoza-Molina, Freile, Nilsson, J, Krabbe & Bonaccorso, 2018	Ecuador	Size: Habitat: Diet:

Description

The birds are approximately 13 centimetres (5.1 in) in length with fairly long, slightly decurved black bills. They are sexually dimorphic. The male usually has an iridescent green throat, or bluish-purple in the Ecuadorian hillstar, with dull greenish upperparts and pale flanks. The central underparts are usually black, but are brown in the Andean hillstar. The tail is usually dark with a contrasting white pattern; the pattern is cinnamon in the wedge-tailed hillstar, and the tail is entirely dark in the black-breasted hillstar. The female is duller, with a whitish throat densely spotted with green, white, buff, or cinnamon underparts, and a dark tail with a white pattern.

Behaviour

These highly territorial hummingbirds are found in temperate and alpine grassland, scrub and woodland at altitudes of 1,200 to 5,200 metres (3,900 to 17,100 ft). The Ecuadorian hillstar has been observed nesting at high altitudes on the cliffs of Cotopaxi. ^[3] This species is known to nest colonially. ^[4]

Many hillstars feed mainly on shrubs of the Andean plant genus Chuquiraga , and some species may be limited to them. ^[5]

The genus has undergone allopatric speciation.

References

1. "Trochilidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
2. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
3. Smith, G. T. (1969). A high altitude hummingbird on the volcano Cotopaxi. Ibis 111(1), 17-22.
4. Solano-Ugalde, A. (2008). High in the Andes: Colonial nesting of Ecuadorean Hillstar (Oreotrochilus chimborazo: Trochilidae) under a bridge. Ornitología Colombiana 6, 86-88.
5. Bleiweiss, R. (1982). The northern limit of the hummingbird genus Oreotrochilus in South America. The Auk 99(2), 376-78.

Further reading

• Fjeldså, J. and I. Heynen (1999). Genus Oreotrochilus. pp. 623–24 In: del Hoyo, J., et al. (eds.) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. 1999. ISBN   84-87334-25-3