Hillstar

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Hillstar
Andean Hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella) perched.jpg
female Andean hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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.

Contents

The Urochroa hillstars are not closely related.

Species list

Their genus contains seven species: [2]

Genus Oreotrochilus Gould, 1847 – seven species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Ecuadorian hillstar

Ecuadorian Hillstar.jpg

Oreotrochilus chimborazo
(Delattre & Bourcier, 1846)

Three subspecies
  • O. c. jamesonii
  • O. c. chimborazo
  • O. c. soderstromi
Ecuador and extreme southern Colombia.
Oreotrochilus chimborazo map.svg
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 LC 


Andean hillstar

Oreotrochilusestella2.jpg
Male
Andean Hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella) perched.jpg
Female

Oreotrochilus estella
(d'Orbigny, 1838)
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.
Oreotrochilus estella map.svg
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Green-headed hillstar

Andean Hillstar.jpg

Oreotrochilus stolzmanni
Salvin, 1895
southern Ecuador and northern and central Peru
Oreotrochilus stolzmanni map.svg
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White-sided hillstar

Picaflor Cordillerano, Farellones 19oct14.jpg
Male
White-sided Hillstar.jpg
Female

Oreotrochilus leucopleurus
Gould, 1847
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile
Oreotrochilus leucopleurus map.svg
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Black-breasted hillstar

Oreotrochilus melanogaster 65144078.jpg
Male
Oreotrochilus melanogaster 105738404 (cropped).jpg
Female

Oreotrochilus melanogaster
Gould, 1847
Peru
Oreotrochilus melanogaster map.svg
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Wedge-tailed hillstar

Oreotrochilus adela 256755748.jpg
Male
Wedge-tailed Hillstar.jpg
Female

Oreotrochilus adela
(d'Orbigny, 1838)
Argentina and Bolivia
Oreotrochilus adela map.svg
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Blue-throated hillstar

Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus - Blue-throated Hillstar - male.jpg

Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus
Sornoza-Molina, Freile, Nilsson, J, Krabbe & Bonaccorso, 2018
Ecuador
Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus map.svg
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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.

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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.