Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird
Chrysuronia lilliae
Rare, endangered, and poorly known hummingbird restricted to mangroves and adjacent scrubby areas along the Colombian coast. Male has sapphire underparts extending from throat all the way to belly, and lacks the distinct hood typical of the more common Sapphire-throated Hummingbird. Female’s plumage is not known with certainty, but likely resembles female Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, which has white central underparts bordered by green flanks, and white tail tips.
Identification
The sapphire-bellied hummingbird is 8.9 to 9.4 cm (3.5 to 3.7 in) long. Males weigh about 4.3 g (0.15 oz). Males' bills have a black maxilla and a black-tipped pinkish mandible. They have a shining green crown, back, and rump and their tail is forked and blue-black. They have a glittering purple gorget and the rest of their underparts are glittering blue. The female's weight has not been documented nor its plumage described, though the latter is thought to be similar to the male's but grayer on the underparts.
Taxonomy
The sapphire-bellied hummingbird was formerly placed in the genera Lepidopyga and Amazilia. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that both genera were polyphyletic. In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the sapphire-bellied hummingbird was moved by most taxonomic systems to Chrysuronia. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) retains it in Amazilia. At times the species has been treated as a subspecies of the sapphire-throated hummingbird (C. coeruleogularis).<p>The sapphire-bellied hummingbird is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Chrysuronia lilliae
- Authority
- (Stone, 1917)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Chrysuronia
Range and habitat
The sapphire-bellied hummingbird is found only in the mangroves of Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, a coastal wetland in northern Colombia, and in immediately adjoining arid scrublands.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The sapphire-bellied hummingbird's movements, if any, have not been documented, though it might make local seasonal movements.<p>The sapphire-bellied hummingbird's preferred nectar source is the flowers of tea mangrove (Pelliciera rhizophorae), though it has been observed feeding at the flowering legume Erythrina fusca in the nearby arid scrub. In addition to nectar, it feeds on insects.<p>Nothing is known about the sapphire-bellied hummingbird's breeding phenology.<p>Xeno-canto and Cornell University's Macaulay Library have only a few recordings of the sapphire-bellied hummingbird's vocalizations. They are described as "a series of short chatters".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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