Wedge-tailed sabrewing

Wedge-tailed sabrewing
In Belize
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Strisores
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Genus:	Pampa
Species:	P. pampa
Binomial name
Pampa pampa (Lesson, 1832)
Distribution map of Pampa pampa (right)
Synonyms
Campylopterus curvipennis [2] Pampa curvipennis [3] [4]

The wedge-tailed sabrewing (Pampa pampa) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, and possibly Honduras. ^{[5] [2] [6]}

Taxonomy and systematics

The taxonomy of the wedge-tailed sabrewing is unsettled. It was formerly placed in the genus Campylopterus . A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the genus Campylopterus was polyphyletic. ^[7] In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the wedge-tailed sabrewing was moved to the resurrected genus Pampa by some taxonomic systems. ^{[8] [5]}

The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) adopted the split of C. curvipennis into three species of sabrewings, the wedge-tailed (Pampa pampa), curve-winged (P. curvipennis), and long-tailed (P. excellens). It treats each as monotypic. ^[5] The North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy adopted long-tailed sabrewing as P. excellens. They adopted the wedge-tailed as P. curvipennis and assigned IOC's wedge-tailed and curve-winged to it as subspecies. ^[3] BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) was the most conservative. It retained the binomial Campylopterus curvipennis for the wedge-tailed sabrewing with the three taxa as subspecies. ^[2]

This article follows the IOC treatment of a monotypic wedge-tailed sabrewing.

Description

The wedge-tailed sabrewing is 11.5 to 13.5 cm (4.5 to 5.3 in) long. Males weigh an average of about 6.6 g (0.23 oz) and females 5.0 g (0.18 oz). Their bill is straight, longish, and stout. Adult males have a bright violet crown, metallic green to bronze green upperparts, and bluish green uppertail coverts. Their tail feathers are mostly dull metallic bluish green that becomes purplish black at the ends. The outermost pair have dusky to brownish gray outer webs. Much of their face is dull grayish white to gray, with a white spot behind the eye. Their underparts are brownish gray. Adult females are very similar to the male. However, their crown is dull blue rather than bright violet, their underparts have a pale cinnamon wash, and the tips of the outermost tail feathers have a buff wash. Immature birds are similar to the adult female, with a duller crown whose feathers have buff tips. ^[6]

Distribution and habitat

The wedge-tailed sabrewing is found in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and northeastern Chiapas, Belize, and northern Guatemala. Most sources also include a disjunct population in Honduras in its range. (Note that the map includes the curve-winged sabrewing's separate and more westerly range and excludes Honduras.) It inhabits the interior and edges of humid evergreen and semi-deciduous forest and rainforest. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 1,400 m (4,600 ft). ^{[6] [9]}

Behavior

Movement

The wedge-tailed sabrewing is generally a year-round resident but individuals may move to lower elevations after breeding. ^[6]

Feeding

The wedge-tailed sabrewing's foraging strategy and diet are not known in detail; most of the available information applies to the broader two- or three-subspecies models without separation. It consumes nectar, as do all hummingbirds, and insects like most of them. It forages in the low to middle strata of the forest. ^{[6] [9]}

Breeding

As is the case for feeding, most of the wedge-tailed sabrewing's breeding phenology has not been detailed separately from that of the curve-winged and long-tailed. It is believed to nest between March and July. Males display for females at leks. ^{[6] [9]}

Songs and calls Listen to wedge-tailed sabrewing on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The available descriptions of the wedge-tailed sabrewing's vocalizations apply to the two- or three-subspecies models. (The xeno-canto recordings are from the monotypic species.) Males sing by themselves or in small groups from bare twigs in the forest understory. The song is "a loud, prolonged, gurgling warble interspersed with squeaky chipping". It is the most complex of any hummingbirds' and is "even comparable with calls of the songbirds." Other vocalizations include "a steady sharp chipping, chip chip chip chip-ip' chip ...and a nasal peek". ^[6]

Status

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so does not assess the wedge-tailed sabrewing sensu stricto from the three-subspecies Campylopterus curvipennis. ^[10]

References

1. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
2. HBW and BirdLife International (2020) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip [.xls zipped 1 MB] retrieved May 27, 2021
3. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021
4. "Check-list of North and Middle American Birds". American Ornithological Society. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
5. Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (January 2022). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List. v 12.1. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
6. Arizmendi, M. d. C., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, and T. S. Schulenberg (2021). Wedge-tailed Sabrewing (Pampa curvipennis), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.wetsab1.01.1 retrieved August 5, 2022
7. McGuire, J.; Witt, C.; Remsen, J.V.; Corl, A.; Rabosky, D.; Altshuler, D.; Dudley, R. (2014). "Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds". Current Biology. 24 (8): 910–916. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.016 . PMID   24704078.
8. Stiles, F.G.; Remsen, J.V. Jr.; Mcguire, J.A. (2017). "The generic classification of the Trochilini (Aves: Trochilidae): Reconciling taxonomy with phylogeny". Zootaxa. 4353 (3): 401–424. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4353.3. PMID   29245495.
9. Fagan, Jesse; Komar, Oliver (2016). Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 68. ISBN   978-0-544-37326-6.
10. BirdLife International (2021). "Wedge-tailed Sabrewing Camplyopterus curvipennis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T22727993A167043838. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22727993A167043838.en . Retrieved 5 August 2022.