Black Jacobin
Florisuga fusca
Large and aggressive hummingbird. Mostly black with white flanks. Boldly patterned tail is white with a black center and a thin black terminal band. Both sexes are similar, but juveniles have cinnamon sides to the throat. Found in a variety of habitats including woodlands, forest edges, and plantations, foraging from the understory to the canopy. Also visits feeders and gardens.
Identification
The black jacobin is 12 to 13 cm (4.7 to 5.1 in) long. Males weigh about 9 g (0.32 oz) and females 8 g (0.28 oz). Adults of both sexes are mostly black, with a bronzy-olive lower back and uppertail- and wing-coverts. The flanks are white, the inner rectrices black, and the outer rectrices white with black tips. Juveniles are dark except for a wide cinnamon band on the center and sides of the throat and a white belly and outer rectrices.
Taxonomy
The black jacobin was traditionally placed in the monotypic genus Melanotrochilus, but voice, anatomy, and reproductive behavior place it in Florisuga with the white-necked jacobin. The species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Florisuga fusca
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Caprimulgiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Florisuga
Range and habitat
The black jacobin is found in southeastern Brazil, approximately from Bahia south through Rio Grande do Sul and into eastern Uruguay, and separately in southeastern Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, and adjoining Brazil. There are also scattered records from sites outside its primary range. It mostly inhabits woodlands, gardens, and coffee and cacao plantations with tall trees. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 1,400 m (4,600 ft).
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The black jacobin is migratory, but the pattern is not well understood. The trend is for southward movement for the austral winter, though there are also winter records to the northwest in the cerrado biome of south-central Brazil.<p>The black jacobin forages at all levels of its habitat. It feeds on nectar at the flowers of many native and introduced trees and shrubs and from bromeliads as well. The species is highly territorial and defends food sources against conspecifics and other species. However, "congregations" of 50 or more have been documented in July feeding on patches of Dombeya wallichii, an introduced shrub. In addition to nectar, the black jacobin takes small insects on the wing and from leaves and spider webs.<p>The black jacobin breeds between July and May, and two broods per year are common. Its nest is a cup made of fine plant fibers and cobweb, placed on the mid-rib of a large horizontal leaf, typically between 1 and 4 m (3.3 and 13 ft) up in a tree or shrub. The clutch size is two eggs. Females use a display flight to distract predators.<p>The black jacobin's song is "a series of high-pitched hissing notes above 10 kHz, 'szee..szee....szee..szee..szee....szee...'." Its calls include "a short 'tsik' or 'chik', and a short trill 'tr-r-r'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Pelzeln's Tody-Tyrant
Hemitriccus inornatus
Very small flycatcher with an olive-green back; white below with thin gray streaks. Note the whitish wingbars. Patchily distributed in low-stature white sand forests. The song, like the bird, is easily overlooked: a low, short, stuttered trill, “tid-dip, tid, te, de.”
Gilded Hummingbird
Hylocharis chrysura
Medium-sized hummingbird with a long, straight bill which is red with a black tip. Deceptively dull-looking, but in the right light has a golden-green back and breast and a bronze tail. Both sexes are similar. Found at forest edges, in light woodlands, plantations, and at feeders.
Plain-winged Antshrike
Thamnophilus schistaceus
Even-colored antshrike of forest under- and midstory. Often travels with mixed-species flocks. Males are plain gray; females are tawny with olive underparts. Females have a more contrasting reddish cap than other female antshrikes. Heard more often than seen; listen for a series of accelerating “awh” notes terminating in a punctuated down-slurred note.
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