Amazilia Hummingbird

Identification

The amazilia hummingbird is 9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in) long. Males weigh 5 to 6.5 g (0.18 to 0.23 oz) and females 4.5 to 5.5 g (0.16 to 0.19 oz). Both sexes of all subspecies have a straight, medium length, pinkish-red bill with a black tip. Adult males of the nominate subspecies A. a. amazilia have golden-green upperparts with rufous uppertail coverts. Their tail is also mostly rufous, with some bronze-green on the outer feathers. They have a glittering golden- to turquoise-green throat and a rufous lower breast and belly. Adult females have almost the same plumage, with the addition of some white on the chin and throat and a paler rufous belly. Juveniles resemble adult females with the addition of browish edges on their upperparts' feathers.<p>The amazilia hummingbird's song is "a variable but typically descending series of 4–10 squeaky notes, repeated at intervals." There are differences within and among the subspecies, especially that of A. a. alticola compared to the others. The species makes calls described as "tsip" and "dry 'zrrt'"; sometimes they are extended as "stuttering rattles".<p>Subspecies A. a. alticola has less rufous on the breast than the nominate and almost no green on the tail. A. a. azuay differs the most from the nominate. Its bill has less red on the maxilla, it has a nearly pure white belly with rufous only on the lower flanks, and its uppertail coverts and tail are paler rufous with little green. A. a. dumerilii is somewhat smaller than the nominate, with a white chin, throat, and center of the belly. A. a. leucophoea looks almost the same as demerillii but has bronze-green upperparts. A. a. caeruleigularis has a glittering violet-blue throat instead of the nominate's green.

Taxonomy

An illustration of the amazilia hummingbird together with the binomial name Orthorynchus amazilia was published in 1827 by the French naturalist René Lesson. In the following year he published a description. The specific epithet is from the name of the Inca heroine in Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas, ou la destruction de l'Empire du Pérou.<p>The amazilia hummingbird was formerly placed in the genus Amazilia. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the genus was polyphyletic. In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the amazilia hummingbird was moved by most taxonomic authorities to the resurrected genus Amazilis that had been introduced in 1855 by George Gray. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retains it in Amazilia.<p>There are six generally recognized subspecies:<p>Some ornithologists have proposed that subspecies A. a. alticola should be treated as a separate species, the "Loja hummingbird".

Scientific name

Amazilis amazilia

Authority

(Lesson, RP & Garnot, 1827)

Order

Apodiformes

Family

Trochilidae

Genus

Amazilis

Range and habitat

The amazilia hummingbird is found in western Ecuador and Peru. It does not migrate but does make some elevational dispersal after the breeding season. The six subspecies are distributed thus:<p>The amazilia hummingbird's habitat is different from that of its close relatives in the genus Amazilia: It is a bird of open semi-arid to arid landscapes and is rarely found deep in forested areas. These landscapes include scrublands, thorn forest, xerophytic steppe, and desert. The species is also common in cultivated areas and city parks and gardens. The nominate subspecies is found between sea level and about 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Subspecies dumerilii, leucophaea, and alticola are also found in the sub-montane zone in savanna and at the edges and clearings of cloudforest. In elevation they mostly range between 1,000 and 2,200 m (3,300 and 7,200 ft), though leucophaea reaches as high as 2,700 m (8,900 ft). A. a. caeruleigularis is apparently restricted to near-desert between 600 and 700 m (2,000 and 2,300 ft).

Migration

Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend

unknown