Mexican Hermit
Phaethornis mexicanus
Spectacular large hummingbird of humid tropical lowlands and foothills; endemic to west Mexico. Favors shady forest understory and edges, especially with patches of Heliconia flowers. Males sit and sing tirelessly from perches in the understory while pumping their tail. When feeding, hovers briefly with long white tail streamers held nearly vertical and shoots off with an explosive squeak. Note the striped face, very long, arched bill, and rather drab plumage. No similar hummingbird species in its range.
Identification
The Mexican hermit is 16 to 17 cm (6.3 to 6.7 in) long. The nominate subspecies has a dusky crown and bronzy green nape and upperparts. The rump feathers are bronzy green with cinnamon edges and the tail is black with white tips to the feathers. The face has black cheeks and pale cinnamon stripes behind the eye and below the cheek. The throat is mostly pale buff and the rest of the underparts are dusky brownish gray with a cinnamon wash on the belly. P. m. griseoventer is slightly paler overall; its crown is dull greenish, its throat stripe whitish to pale buff, and it has more white on the central tail feathers.
Taxonomy
The Mexican hermit was previously treated as a subspecies of the long-billed hermit (Phaethornis longirostris). Following two 2013 publications, the North American Classification Committee (NACC) of the American Ornithological Society in 2015 recognized it as a separate species. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World followed suit.<p>The Mexican hermit has two subspecies, the nominate P. m. mexicanus and P. m. griseoventer.
- Scientific name
- Phaethornis mexicanus
- Authority
- Hartert, EJO, 1897
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Phaethornis
Range and habitat
The Mexican hermit is found in two separate areas of Mexico's Pacific coast. The nominate P. m. mexicanus occurs to the southwest from western Guerrero south to southeastern Oaxaca. P. m. griseoventer occurs further north, between Nayarit and Colima. The species inhabits the interior and edges of humid evergreen forest, Heliconia thickets, and ravines in semi-deciduous woodlands. In elevation it ranges from sea level to about 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Mexican hermit is believed to be sedentary.<p>The Mexican hermit is a "trap-line" feeder like other hermit hummingbirds, visiting a circuit of a variety of flowering plants for nectar. It also consumes small arthropods.<p>Almost nothing is known about the Mexican hermit's breeding phenology. Nests with eggs were found in late May and early July.<p>The song of the Mexican hermit's P. m. griseoventer subspecies is "a continuous series of single, metallic notes...'chieh...chieh...chieh...'." Its call is "a shrill, slurred, relatively drawn-out 'skweih'". The vocalizations of the nominate P. m. mexicanus have not been documented. However, both subspecies are known to sing at leks of four to six males.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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