Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird
Saucerottia castaneiventris
Endangered hummingbird with a small range in the northern part of Colombia’s eastern Andes and in the San Lucas Mountains. Note the reddish-orange belly and bright rusty tail. Females and younger birds are duller than adult males and might be confused with Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, but lack green on the flanks. Inhabits lighter woodland and forest edge, and generally avoids dense forest.
Identification
The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is about 9 cm (3.5 in) long. Both sexes have a black bill with a red base to the mandible. The adult male has bronze-green upperparts and a chestnut tail. Its throat and upper breast are glittering green, the belly chestnut, and the undertail coverts chestnut with greenish edges. The female is similar but with a slightly paler belly and white bars near the end of some throat feathers. Immatures are similar to the female with rufous edges on the feathers of the neck and rump.
Taxonomy
The chestnut-bellied hummingbird was formerly placed in the genus Amazilia. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the genus Amazilia was polyphyletic. In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the chestnut-bellied hummingbird was moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus Saucerottia. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) retains it in Amazilia.<p>The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Saucerottia castaneiventris
- Authority
- (Gould, 1856)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Saucerottia
Range and habitat
The chestnut-bellied hummingbird appears to be restricted to the dryer parts of the Magdalena Valley of Colombia, with a core known range in the Chicamocha, Suárez and Chucurí River valleys. As of 2019 it was known from at least 14 sites. However, it is not regularly documented at most of them, perhaps because of unknown seasonal movements. Most records are from arid brushy canyons with a few from the lower edges of humid montane forest. Most records are from elevations between 500 and 1,500 m (1,600 and 4,900 ft) but some extend to between 340 and 2,200 m (1,100 and 7,200 ft) and one is at 120 m (390 ft).
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is believed to move from higher to lower elevations after the breeding season.<p>Details are lacking about the chestnut-bellied hummingbird's feeding technique and diet, but it is known to take nectar from Salvia and Trichanthera. It also feeds on small arthropods.<p>Specimens of chestnut-bellied hummingbird in breeding condition suggest that its breeding season is from August to December. Nothing else is known about its breeding phenology and its nest has not been described.<p>The chestnut-bellied hummingbird's song is "a short rhythmic phrase of three squeaky notes that sounds like a rusty door-hinge, 'krey-ki-cheep ... tsew ... krey-ki-cheep ...'." It also makes calls described as " a slightly buzzy 'tzee', a high-pitched 'see' and a stuttering high-pitched chattering."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Common and conspicuous seabird of coastlines and inshore waters along the Humboldt Current. Sometimes in flocks of hundreds, diving steeply into the sea among feeding frenzies of cormorants, gulls, and terns. Also seen perched on jetties and cliffs; often with cormorants and pelicans. Adult is distinctive with a snow-white head and neck, and dark upperparts with white scaling on back. Juvenile is dingier overall with a dusky head and body. Compare with Blue-footed Booby (often occurs with Peruvian), which always has white body contrasting with dusky neck.
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Cacomantis castaneiventris
Small cuckoo with deep orange-brown underparts, gray upperparts, barred undertail, and a yellow eyering. Typically inhabits dense rainforest habitats. Secretive; most easily located when calling. Plumage similar to Fan-tailed Cuckoo but smaller, more richly colored. Call is a piercing, descending trill, similar to that of Fan-tailed.
Tibetan Sand-Plover
Anarhynchus atrifrons
Medium-sized plover with a pale throat, brown back, and white belly. Breeding adults have a black mask and a bright orange chest and neck; males average brighter than females. Non-breeding and immature birds are brownish above and white below, with a variable white forehead and eyebrow. Compare with slightly larger Greater Sand-Plover; Tibetan is proportionally smaller-headed and darker-legged, and its shorter bill has a slight bulge at the tip. Smaller Kentish Plover can be similar in non-breeding plumage; Tibetan is taller and longer-legged, without Kentish’s strong white neck band. Very difficult to distinguish from Siberian Sand-Plover, especially nonbreeding and immature birds, though identification can often be presumed by range. In breeding plumage, note the more extensive black mask of Tibetan, typically lacking the white spot on the forehead of Siberian. In nonbreeding plumage, look for a generally broken breast band and clean white flanks in Tibetan. In areas of overlap many birds best left unidentified. Breeds on margins of high-elevation lakes and rivers in China and Mongolia; winters on coastal mudflats, beaches, and inland lakes from Africa to Indonesia.
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