White-eared Hummingbird
Basilinna leucotis
Stocky, rather distinctive, medium-sized hummingbird in mountain pine-oak and pine-evergreen forests and clearings, where it usually is one of the commonest hummingbird species. Feeds mainly at low to middle levels, often at banks of roadside flowers. Both sexes have a black mask, bold and thick white ear-stripe, and red base to the bill. Male’s head and throat often appear black, but in the right light, it flashes brilliant violet and green. Female has a pale throat and breast with green spots.
Identification
The white-eared hummingbird is 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) long. Males weigh an average of 3.6 g (0.13 oz) and females 3.2 g (0.11 oz). Adults of the three subspecies are very similar. Their bills are straight; males' are red with a black tip and females' are mostly blackish with some red to orange at the base.<p>Males of the nominate subspecies in breeding plumage have a metallic violet or bluish violet forehead, a mostly black face with a wide white stripe behind the eye, and a dull black crown. Their upperparts are bright metallic green to bronze green and the uppertail coverts more bronzy; the rump and covert feathers have rusty edges. The central pair of tail feathers are bright bronze green, the next pair a darker green, and the remaining three pairs bronzy black with bright bronze green tips. Their chin and upper throat are violet blue, the lower throat metallic emerald green, and the breast and flanks are bronze to bronze green with dull grayish white down the center. The undertail coverts are grayish brown with a faint bronze gloss.<p>Nominate females in breeding plumage resemble the males. However, their crown is dusky brown and they lack the brilliant chin and throat of the male. Their underparts are pale brownish gray to grayish white with metallic bronze green spots and the undertail coverts are grayish with whitish margins. Their central tail feathers have brownish gray tips.<p>Subspecies B. l. borealis is somewhat larger than the nominate. The male's underparts have much more white and less green. B. l. pygmaea is somewhat smaller than the nominate with less green on the lower throat and more white on the underparts.
Taxonomy
The white-eared hummingbird was originally placed in genus Trochilus and then moved to Hylocharis. A study published in 2014 determined that both were in error and it was moved to Basilinna. The species has three subspecies, the nominate B. l. leucotis, B. l. borealis, and B. l. pygmaea.
- Scientific name
- Basilinna leucotis
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1818)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Basilinna
Range and habitat
The white-eared hummingbird's B. l. borealis subspecies occurs from southern Arizona into the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Tamaulipas. It is an occasional visitor to New Mexico and Texas and has occurred as a vagrant further north and east in the U.S. The nominate subspecies B. l. leucotis is found from central and southern Mexico into Guatemala. B. l. pygmaea is found in El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The white-eared hummingbird is a species of montane regions where it inhabits the interior, clearings, and edges of pine, pine-oak, and pine-evergreen forest. In elevation it ranges between 1,200 and 3,500 m (3,900 and 11,500 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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