Chiribiquete Emerald

The Chiribiquete Emerald Hummingbird ( Chlorostilbon olivaresi ) is a species of bird in the family of hummingbirds ( Trochilidae ). The species has a distribution area, which covers about 6,600 square kilometers in the South American country Colombia. The stock is assessed by the IUCN as not at risk ( least concern ).

Features

The Chiribiquete Emerald Hummingbird reaches a body length of about 8 centimeters. The bill length ( culmen ) is 21.8 millimeters. The chord length is about 5 inches, the tail length of 2.6 inches and the Fußstelze ( Tarsus ) 4.4 millimeters. He weighs about 3.4 grams. The crown, the neck, the back and the rump of the male are metal green. The front part of the crown gleams gold green. Postokular ( behind the eyes ) is a small gray white spot. The upper part of the tail is blue-green and dark steel blue down. The face and the lateral neck are emerald green and have pale green reflections. At the throat to the upper chest, the color goes abruptly into the blue green. Direction of the lower chest and abdomen, he is again in color emerald green. At the thigh there is a small white tuft. The mandible is red, while the rest of the beak and the entire legs are black. The lower part of the female is in contrast to the male bronze-green. On the back, the female has blue spots, so it looks slightly scaly. The inner tail feathers are blue and dark blue to the outside. The outer feathers on light gray speckles. The cheek and ear area are rußgrau with dunkelbronzenen colorations. The lower part is pale gray to brownish.

Habitat

The hummingbird is located exclusively in the Serranía de Chiribiquete. In the area there are some sandstone mesas. The flora is dominated by Bonnetia martiana ( from the family Teestrauchgewächse ), Clusia chiribiquensis ( from the family of St. John's wort family), Tepuianthus savannensis ( from the family of Seidelbastgewächse ) Graffenriedia ( from the family of Black mouth plants ) and Decagonocarpus cornutus ( from the family of Rutaceae ). The hummingbird is preferably in the bushes Bonnetia, but also to the red - orange flowers of Decagonocarpus cornutus he likes to keep to himself. Sometimes you see him rock outcroppings, which are surrounded by forest. Here he stayed mainly in the undergrowth. The bird is found at altitudes between 300 and 900 meters. In the surrounding wooded lowlands to the mesas you will not find him.

Behavior

His nectar the hummingbird gets most of the flowers of Decagonocarpus cornutus. The leaves and the flowers of Bonnetia and other bushes he collects small arthropods. He also catches insects in flight. To his prey includes thrips, flies and Hymenoptera. The breeding season is from November to December and probably in May. It was observed that the hummingbird moults until about the end of July.

Subspecies

There is so far no subspecies of Chiribiquete Emerald Hummingbird known. Therefore, the species is considered monotypic. Previously it was the type as a subspecies of the Blue -tailed Emerald Hummingbird ( Chlorostilbon mellisugus ). In 2003, the South American Check -list Committee has recognized, among other things Chlorostilbon olivaresi as a separate species.

Etymology and History of Research

The type specimen for the first description was collected on 24 November 1992 by Stiles, José Luis Díaz Esteban Tellería and Mario Valle de los Menhires in the Serranía de Chiribiquete.

The word Chlorostilbon is composed of the Greek words " khlōros χλωρός " for " green " and " Stilbon στίλβων " for " translucent " together. The Greeks gave the Mercury nicknamed Stilbon what is on the verb " stilb " for " flash " due. The new species was named by Frank Gary Stiles in honor of Fray Antonio Olivares Celis, which he calls a pioneer of Colombian ornithology and had the major share in building the bird collection of the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales.