White-bearded Hermit
Phaethornis hispidus
Large gray and green hermit of understory rainforest. Gray below, green above with gray rump and white long central tail feathers. Fairly long, slightly downcurved bill, and prominent white throat and moustache. Sexes similar. Similar to Great-billed Hermit, which is more tawny brown overall (not gray), and has a red or orange lower mandible (not yellow). Found in a variety of lowland rainforest habitats; most common around forest edges, along rivers, and around heliconias.
Identification
The white-bearded hermit is about 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 4 to 6 g (0.14 to 0.21 oz). This medium-sized hermit has bronzy green upperparts with gray margins on the uppertail coverts. The underparts are gray. The face has a black "mask" with a white supercilium and malar stripe; the center of the throat has a white stripe. The female has identical plumage but shorter wings and a shorter and more decurved bill than the male.
Taxonomy
The white-bearded hermit is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Phaethornis hispidus
- Authority
- (Gould, 1846)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Phaethornis
Range and habitat
The white-bearded hermit is found in Amazonia, from the Andean foothills of western and southern Venezuela south through eastern Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to northeastern Bolivia, and east throughout western Amazonian Brazil. In elevation it usually ranges as high as 850 m (2,800 ft) but has been recorded up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Peru. It is a bird of humid landscapes. In the lowlands it mostly inhabits regularly inundated areas, such as along rivers and in várzea forest. At higher elevations if favors gallery forest in the cerrado and llanos.<p>
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
No information about the white-bearded hermit's movements has been published.<p>The white-bearded 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 breeding seasons of the white-bearded hermit vary throughout its large range but have not been defined in detail. Like many hermits, it builds a cone-shaped nest suspended from the underside of drooping leaf. The clutch size is two eggs.<p>The white-bearded hermit's song is "a continuous series of high-pitched single notes 'seep'. It is typically sung from a low perch while gathered at a lek with other males. Its call is "a short explosive 'pip!'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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