Wedge-tailed Hillstar
Oreotrochilus adela painted by John Gould
The Rotflanken - Andean Hummingbird ( Oreotrochilus adela ) or sometimes Adelakolibri is a species of bird in the family of hummingbirds ( Trochilidae ). The species has a large distribution area, which includes the South American countries of Argentina and Bolivia. The stock is assessed by the IUCN as Near Threatened ( Near Threatened ).
Features
The Rotflanken - Andean hummingbird reaches a body length of about 12 centimeters. The slightly curved beak is about 25 millimeters long. The tail is wedge-shaped. The upper side of the male is gray -brown with a faint bronze color, so that it acts scaled. The throat glistens in an intense green. The underside is chestnut color with a strong black in the central areas. The blue-black tail has at the inner tail feathers on maroon areas. The female has a white throat with dark -colored speckles and green round spots. The underside is reddish brown and is paler in the central area. The tail feathers are dark with white speckles. The base of the tail feathers are reddish brown. The central tail feathers are blue-black.
Distribution and habitat
These hummingbirds move mainly in semi-arid Polylepis forests. Often you can see it also in ravines with denser undergrowth as Barnadesia. If sufficient columnar cacti and shrubs are present, they also occur in typical Dodonea - heathland. They are found at altitudes 2600-4000 meters. The distribution area extends into Bolivia from the southern part of the department of La Paz Cochabamba and Potosí to Chuquisaca. Only very rarely can they in northwestern Argentina ( Departamento Yavi ) watch. It is thought that it could be migrants themselves here.
Behavior
The birds feed themselves, inter alia, from the nectar of the flowers of Barnadesia of Labiatae and columnar cacti. Every now and then they grant the Estella - Andean Hummingbird ( Oreotrochilus estella ) the field. In the mating season, the male sits on exposed branches, chirping melodious and fluffed up. A female approaches as it beats its wings in addition.
Research History and naming
While the name part oreo is due to the Greek terms Óros ( = mountain ), is the word for hummingbird trochilus. The term Trochilus, the Linnaeus used in 1758, is historically problematic: This term has been used by Aristotle for a bird, which then contacts the mouth of a crocodile without getting hurt by this, or even eaten. Étienne Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire suggested that Aristotle so the crocodile monitor ( Pluvianus aegyptius ) described. Nevertheless, has become the norm among scientists to use this term in the context of hummingbirds.
The word Adela used in scientific name is from the Greek word adelos (dark = unknown, hidden ) due. In older English literature one finds the trivial names Adela 's Hill Star. This would indicate a Dedikationsnamen for a woman. This common name but is probably due to a clerical error by John Gould, who in his work Family of Hummingbirds - used the scientific name Oreotrochilus adelae for the hummingbird Monograph of the Trochilidae ( 1849-1861 ).