Violet-headed hummingbird

Last updated

Violet-headed hummingbird
Violet-headed Hummingbird (f) JCB.jpg
Female in eastern Ecuador
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Tribe: Trochilini
Genus: Klais
Reichenbach, 1854
Species:
K. guimeti
Binomial name
Klais guimeti
(Bourcier, 1843)
Klais guimeti map.svg
Range of K. guimeti

The violet-headed hummingbird (Klais guimeti) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is the only species in the genus Klais.

Contents

It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest.

Taxonomy

The violet-headed hummingbird was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist Jules Bourcier from specimens collected near Caracas in Venezuela. Bourcier coined the binomial name Trochilus guimeti. [3] The violet-headed hummingbird in now the only species placed in the genus Klais that was introduced in 1854 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. [4] [5] The genus is named after Kleis (or Cleis), the daughter of the Lesbian poet Sappho. The specific name was chosen to honour the French chemist Jean-Baptiste Guimet. [6]

Three subspecies are recognised: [5]

Description

Violet-headed hummingbirds are on average 8.1 cm (3.2 in) in length with a short, straight bill that averages 13 mm (0.51 in) in length. [7] The head and throat of the male are intense violet or blue (depending on the angle viewed) with white spots behind each eye that stands out against the dark head. The back is metallic bluish-green (or bronze-green depending on the angle) and breast is green fading to a grey belly. The tail is green with tiny white-grey tail spots. The wings are black. [7] [8] [9] [10]

The female is duller with a blue cap, green back and grey throat, breast and belly. The wings and tail are the same as the male. The female also has the white spot behind the eye. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Distribution and habitat

The violet-headed hummingbird ranges from Central America well into South America. This includes Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama in Central America and western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, northern Brazil, western Venezuela and northern Bolivia. [7] [8] [9] [10] The species tends to be local in distribution, common in some areas and rare in other seemingly identical areas. [7] [11]

The violet-headed hummingbird occurs in the mountains and has been recorded to occur from 200 to 850 m (660 to 2,790 ft) in Costa Rica, [9] from 400 to 1,850 m (1,310 to 6,070 ft) in Colombia [7] and 150 to 1,900 m (490 to 6,230 ft) in Venezuela. [10]

Violet-headed hummingbirds are found on the edges of humid primary forest, openings in secondary forests, in shrub and thicket clearings [7] [8] and in various human modified habitat such as Stachytarpheta hedges in Costa Rica [12] and shade-grown coffee plantations in Venezuela. [11]

Behaviour

Breeding

In Costa Rica, males sing in loose leks [7] beginning in October and intensifying until the breeding season in December. [13] The chorus continues until the dry season causes the flowers to disappear in February and March. The chorus picks up again when the rains begin again in April, but the heavy rains of May shut the chorus down again until October. [13] The leks are located 5 to 18 m (16 to 59 ft) above the ground on the edge of clearings where the males sing conspicuously from slender dead twigs. [14] Occasionally, an individual will sing solo without other violet-headed hummingbirds nearby. [7]

The nest is a mossy cup [7] built 1 to 5 m (3.3 to 16.4 ft) above forested mountain streams. They are normally built in February, [15] but sometimes as early as January. [7] The last young fledge in May. [7] [15]

Food and feeding

The violet-headed hummingbird drinks nectar from understory flowering shrubs as well as taking small insects [11] on the wing. [7] In Costa Rica, a particular fondness for Stachytarpheta flowers has been reported with as many as one individual every 5–7 m (16–23 ft) on a hedge near Murcia. [12]

Relationship with humans

The violet-headed hummingbird has been designated as a species of Least Concern due to its large range and ability to exist in human modified habitat. [1] [11] The flowering shrubs near Murcia, Costa Rica, were reported to be in an area cleared for agriculture with very few trees. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collared trogon</span> Species of bird

The collared trogon is a near passerine bird in family Trogonidae, the quetzals and trogons. It is found in Mexico, throughout Central America, and in northern South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-browed peppershrike</span> Species of bird

The rufous-browed peppershrike is a passerine bird in the vireo family. It is widespread and often common in woodland, forest edge, and cultivation with some tall trees from Mexico and Trinidad south to Argentina and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-necked jacobin</span> Species of hummingbird

The white-necked jacobin is a medium-size hummingbird that ranges from Mexico south through Central America and northern South America into Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. It is also found in Trinidad & Tobago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slaty-capped flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The slaty-capped flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is found in northern Bolivia to Costa Rica and in Trinidad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown violetear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-billed hermit</span> Species of hummingbirdbird

The long-billed hermit is a bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found from central Mexico south through Central America, Colombia and Ecuador into Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green thorntail</span> Species of hummingbird

The green thorntail is a small hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Band-tailed barbthroat</span> Species of hummingbird

The band-tailed barbthroat is a medium-sized hummingbird that is found from southeastern Guatemala and Belize to western Ecuador and western Venezuela.

<i>Weinmannia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Weinmannia is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Cunoniaceae. It contains 90 species, which range from Mexico through Central and South America including the Caribbean, and to the Mascarene Islands in the western Indian Ocean. It is absent from mainland Africa and Australia, but some fossils have been attributed to Weinmannia in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violetear</span> Genus of birds

The violetears are hummingbirds of the genus Colibri. They are medium to large species found in Mexico, and Central and northern South America. The Mexican violetear occasionally wanders as far north as the United States and even Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronzy hermit</span> Species of hummingbird

The bronzy hermit is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed sylph</span> Species of hummingbirdbird

The long-tailed sylph is a species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tooth-billed hummingbird</span> Species of bird

The tooth-billed hummingbird is a species of bird from the family Trochilidae. It is monotypic within the genus Androdon. It is found in humid forests in western Colombia, north-western Ecuador, and far eastern Panama. While generally scarce, localized and associated with the highly threatened humid sections of the Chocó, its range remains relatively large, and it is therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-throated goldentail</span> Species of bird

The blue-throated goldentail, also known as the blue-throated sapphire, is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed tyrant</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed tyrant is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the only member of genus Colonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawny-crowned greenlet</span> Species of bird

The tawny-crowned greenlet is a species of bird in the family Vireonidae and is the only species placed in the genus Tunchiornis. It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-capped manakin</span> Species of bird

The red-capped manakin is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden-crowned spadebill</span> Species of bird

The golden-crowned spadebill is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowned woodnymph</span> Species of hummingbird

The crowned woodnymph or violet-crowned woodnymph is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found from Belize and Guatemala to northern Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser violetear</span> Species of bird

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'.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Klais guimeti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22687167A93143544. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22687167A93143544.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 29.
  4. Reichenbach, Ludwig (1854). "Aufzählung der Colibris Oder Trochilideen in ihrer wahren natürlichen Verwandtschaft, nebst Schlüssel ihrer Synonymik". Journal für Ornithologie (Supplement) (in German). 1: 1–24 [13].
  5. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  6. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 181, 214–215. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Hilty & Brown 1986, p. 262.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Dunning & Ridgely 1982, p. 225.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Skutch 1958, p. 5.
  10. 1 2 3 4 de Schauensee & Phelps 1978, p. 139.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Jones et al. 2002.
  12. 1 2 3 Skutch 1958, p. 6.
  13. 1 2 Skutch 1958, p. 9.
  14. Skutch 1958, pp. 9–10.
  15. 1 2 Skutch 1958, p. 11.

Sources