Red-billed Streamertail

Pennant tail ( Trochilus polytmus )

The pennant tail ( Trochilus polytmus ), also called Jamaica Hummingbird or Red- Jamaikasylphe, is a hummingbird found only in Jamaica. He is also known as Doctor Bird.

Features

Pennant tail males can be recognized by the dark, up to 17 cm long tail feathers and the green, black and blue iridescent plumage. Its long beak is bright red. The head -body length is usually 25 cm, and their weight is five grams. The female is smaller, has a dark red to brown beak and a white underside, while the back and head are brown. Pennant tails beat about 30 to 75 times a second with their wings. The male is accompanied in flight by a loud buzzing sound, as the air flowing past the tail feathers added to vibrate. My ring tone is a loud "tie -tie -tei ".

Way of life

The Jamaican Hummingbirds are native to their island everywhere, but they hold a special preference in sparse areas at sea level on. They are very territorial and defend their territories with their sharp beaks against any bird that tries to invade their territory. Despite its long tail feathers, the males can fly very well. As soon as he landed, the bird, however, seems relatively clumsy. The pennant tail can save energy by falling into torpor (rigid state ), where he adjusts his body temperature to its surroundings. This slowing the vital functions to a minimum.

Courtship and breeding biology

In the breeding season, which takes place mostly before or after the rainy season (October -May ), the males gather in small groups and try to attract the attention of females with their iridescent colors. After mating, the female collects threads, cotton, hair, ferns and sticky spider webs to build the nest. There Into she lays two white, elongated eggs, which they incubate 14 to 19 days. Once the eggs have hatched, the female must get much food for the young. Once it has collected enough, it returns to the nest and strangles the young birds that feed directly into the throat. During the first days, the female cleans the nest nor the feces, but after a short time to learn the chick to do it yourself. The nestling period is three to four weeks, after which the young are fledged and leave the nest. Sometimes the female mates again immediately afterwards, so that it breeds twice in a year.

Nutrition

The pennant tails feed mainly on nectar, they pull the tongue out of the corollas. You can not land on the flowers here, as these are usually so delicate that they would cancel. Therefore, " stand " them in their Schwirrflug directly before flowering and dive into its beak. Sometimes they also eat insects, but these are difficult to hunt and digest.

Proliferation and threat

Pennant tails are found only on Jamaica, the third largest island of the Greater Antilles. Your stock is relatively stable; they even benefit from the deforestation of the rainforest, as they find their way more in open country.

1901 another species was discovered, which is found only in the east of Jamaica and a black beak has: the Manx Pennant tail ( Trochilus scitulus ) is considered by some authorities as a subspecies of Pennant tail.