White-whiskered Hermit
Phaethornis yaruqui
Large, dark hermit with an extremely long curved bill. Dark greenish overall with a buffy eyebrow and a white mustache. Also note long graduated tail with a white tip. Generally common in lowland and foothills, up to around 1,300 m. Found within forests and also in second growth and gardens where it visits feeders. Stays low, quickly zipping around flower patches in the understory.
Identification
The white-whiskered hermit is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long. Males weigh 4 to 7 g (0.14 to 0.25 oz) and females 4 to 6.5 g (0.14 to 0.23 oz). This medium-sized hermit has a bronzy crown and iridescent bluish green upperparts. Its underparts are green to dark gray. The face has a black "mask" with a buffy supercilium and a white gular stripe. The male's bill is almost straight. The female has a shorter and gently decurved bill, shorter wings, more grayish underparts, and a longer tail than the male.
Taxonomy
The white-whiskered hermit is monotypic. The western Colombia population was at one time considered to be a subspecies P. y. sanctijohannis but the description was found to be that of immature birds.
- Scientific name
- Phaethornis yaruqui
- Authority
- (Bourcier, 1851)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Phaethornis
Range and habitat
The white-whiskered hermit is found from Colombia's northern Chocó Department south through western Ecuador to El Oro Province. It has also been reported in Panama near the Colombian border. It inhabits humid mid-elevation and montane forest, humid secondary forest, dense shrublands, and plantations. In elevation it usually occurs below 1,200 m (3,900 ft) but has been recorded as high as 2,000 m (6,600 ft).<p>
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
The white-whiskered hermit is primarily sedentary but apparently makes seasonal elevation movements in Ecuador.<p>The white-whiskered hermit is a "trap-line" feeder like other hermit hummingbirds, visiting a circuit of a wide variety of flowering plants for nectar. It also consumes small arthropods.<p>The white-whiskered hermit's breeding season has not been described, though it appears to span from November to July. The nest is a cone-shaped cup suspended from the underside of a drooping leaf. The clutch size is two eggs.<p>The white-whiskered hermit's song is "a continuous series of rather harsh 'kree-u' notes". It also gives a series of "seek" notes while wagging its tail on a low perch at a lek.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cinereous Harrier
Circus cinereus
Fairly common in open country of Patagonia, often near lakes and marshes; uncommon and local northward. Male silvery gray overall with fine rusty barring below. Female and immature are grayish brown above; underparts barred on female, streaked on immature. All plumage have white rump band. Usually seen in flight, hunting low over open country with wings held in a shallow V, tilting side to side like a Turkey Vulture. Perches on ground and fence posts, not in trees or up high.
Rufous-shafted Woodstar
Chaetocercus jourdanii
Tiny, mostly green bumblebee-like hummingbird with a straight bill, glittering magenta throat, white chest band and sides of rump, and short forked tail. Female very different, with buffy underparts, dark brown ears, and unforked rufous tail with a black band. Found in cloud forest, edges, second growth, and gardens, with some seasonal movements. Often hard to see, but sometimes perches at the top of bare branches. In Andes, compare to the similar Gorgeted Woodstar; male Gorgeted has longer purple feathers on the throat, and female lacks green central tail feathers. At lower elevations compare with Amethyst Woodstar, in which the male has a longer tail and female has a whitish throat and black tail tipped with white. Restricted to Colombia and Venezuela.
Mourning Warbler
Geothlypis philadelphia
Robust warbler found near the ground in thick vegetation. Yellow below with blue-gray head and olive back. Adult males show black chest patch. Females are paler gray on the head; immatures are more olive-toned with a yellowish throat. Breeds in brushy, weedy clearings within mixed or coniferous forest. Often favors raspberry thickets. Tends to stay hidden in low vegetation, so can be difficult to see. Listen for its rolling song, “churry churry churry chew.” Most similar to MacGillivray’s Warbler, but little range overlap, and Mourning has somewhat shorter tail and lacks bold white eye-arcs. Also frequently confused with Common Yellowthroat, especially in fall, but Mourning is larger, with heftier pinkish bill, and brighter yellow underparts.
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