Scintillant hummingbird | |
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Male | |
Female | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Strisores |
Order: | Apodiformes |
Family: | Trochilidae |
Genus: | Selasphorus |
Species: | S. scintilla |
Binomial name | |
Selasphorus scintilla (Gould, 1851) | |
Distribution (green) | |
Synonyms | |
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The scintillant hummingbird (Selasphorus scintilla) is a hummingbird endemic to Costa Rica and Panama. This species is replaced at higher elevations by its relative, the volcano hummingbird, S. flammula.
It inhabits brushy forest edges, coffee plantations and sometimes gardens at altitudes from 900–2,000 m (3,000–6,600 ft), and up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) when not breeding.
It is only 6.5–8 cm (2.6–3.1 in) long, including the bill. [3] The male weighs 2 g (0.071 oz) and the female 2.3 g (0.081 oz).[ citation needed ] This is one of the smallest birds in existence, marginally larger than the bee hummingbird. [4] The black bill is short and straight.
The adult male scintillant hummingbird has bronze-green upperparts and a rufous and black-striped tail. The throat is brilliant red, separated from the cinnamon underparts by a white neck band. [3] The female is similar, but her throat is buff with small green spots and the flanks are richer rufous. Young birds resemble the female but have rufous fringes to the upperpart plumage. [3]
The female scintillant hummingbird is entirely responsible for nest building and incubation. She lays two white eggs in her tiny plant-floss cup nest 1–4 m (3 ft 3 in – 13 ft 1 in) high in a scrub. Incubation takes 15–19 days, and fledging another 20–26.
The food of S. scintilla is nectar, taken from a variety of small flowers, including Salvia and species normally pollinated by insects. Like other hummingbirds it also takes some small insects as an essential source of protein. In the breeding season, scintillant hummingbird males perch conspicuously in open areas with Salvia and defend their feeding territories aggressively with diving displays. The call is a liquid tsip.
The black-throated mango is a species in subfamily Polytminae of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. It is found in Panama, in every mainland South American country except Chile, and in Trinidad and Tobago.
The broad-tailed hummingbird is a medium-sized hummingbird species found in highland regions from western United States and Western Canada to Mexico and Guatemala.
The magenta-throated woodstar is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.
The snowcap is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The volcano hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. This hummingbird is the one that appears on the 20 thousand colones bill from Costa Rica.
The grey-tailed mountaingem, also variously spelled gray-tailed mountaingem, grey-tailed mountain-gem, or gray-tailed mountain-gem, is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Costa Rica.
The purple-throated mountaingem is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The white-throated mountaingem or white-throated mountain-gem is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama.
The rufous-tailed hummingbird is a medium-sized hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found from east-central Mexico through Central America and Colombia into Ecuador and Venezuela.
The brown violetear is a large hummingbird that breeds at middle elevations in the mountains in Central America, and western and northern South America with isolated populations on Trinidad and in the Brazilian state Bahia.
The purple-crowned fairy is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae, the mangoes. It is found from southeastern Mexico south into northern Peru.
The American pygmy kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America into every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay. It also occurs on Trinidad.
The band-tailed barbthroat is a medium-sized hummingbird that is found from southeastern Guatemala and Belize to western Ecuador and western Venezuela.
The ruddy woodcreeper is a passerine bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found from southern Mexico to northern Colombia and extreme northern Venezuela.
The garnet-throated hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
The glow-throated hummingbird is an Endangered species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is endemic to a small area of Panama.
The chestnut-colored woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The rufous-winged woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
The stripe-throated hermit is a species of hummingbird from Central America and north-western South America. It is generally fairly common and considered Least Concern by BirdLife International.
The lesser violetear, also known as the mountain violet-ear, is a medium-sized, metallic green hummingbird species commonly found in forested areas from Costa Rica to northern South America. This species and the Mexican violetear were formerly considered as conspecific and named the 'green violetear'.