Minute Hermit

Phaethornis idaliae

Tiny hummingbird with a curved bill and a yellow lower bill. Males have a dark green iridescent back, a dark brown throat with a pale belly and vent, and dark undertail feathers. Females have an orange throat and breast with white edges to the tail, and their central tail feathers are longer than the males’. Inhabits the understory of humid forests and coastal forests (restinga), but also found in second growth and plantations. Males gather in leks emitting a barrage of high-pitched notes continuously.

Identification

The minute hermit is one of the world's smallest birds. It is 8.4 to 9.2 cm (3.3 to 3.6 in) long and weighs 1.8 to 2.7 g (0.06 to 0.10 oz). The male has dark iridescent green upperparts and a dark brown throat. The female's underparts are reddish orange. Both sexes have a black "mask" and a pale supercilium and malar stripe.

Taxonomy

The minute hermit was for a time considered conspecific with the little hermit (P. longuemareus) and now is treated with it as a superspecies. It is monotypic.

Scientific name
Phaethornis idaliae
Authority
(Bourcier & Mulsant, 1856)
Order
Apodiformes
Family
Trochilidae
Genus
Phaethornis

Range and habitat

The minute hermit is found in southeastern Brazil from approximately Bahia south to Rio de Janeiro state. It inhabits the understory of primary or lightly disturbed forest including their edges, and also mature secondary forest and forested islands. It has been recorded in Eucalyptus plantations near its preferred habitat. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft).

Migration
Resident species

Behavior

The minute hermit is assumed to be sedentary.<p>The minute hermit is a "trap-line" feeder like other hermit hummingbirds, visiting a circuit of flowering plants for nectar. It also consumes small arthropods.<p>The minute hermit's breeding season spans from October to February. Males display to females at leks. Its nest is an open cup suspended from the underside of a drooping leaf. The clutch of two eggs is incubated solely by the female.<p>The minute hermit's song is "a high-pitched note repeated 3–4 times, followed by an accelerated descending warble" sung from a low perch.

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Green-backed Flycatcher

Green-backed Flycatcher

Ficedula elisae

A colorful, green-suffused flycatcher. Adult male looks like a faded version of a male Narcissus Flycatcher, with bright yellow eyebrows and underparts; greenish tinge to the upperparts is distinctive and unmistakable. Overall paler and less contrasting patterning, combined with prominent dark eyes, conveys a gentle appearance. Female very similar to female Narcissus, but has a faded-yellow belly and a green-tinged head and back; brighter female Narcissus Flycatchers can have a green tinge, too, but it is usually weaker and restricted to the upper half of the back. Breeds in hilly and submontane mixed broadleaf forests, and winters in open forests and forest edges. Song is a rambling series of somewhat scratchy-sounding warbling notes.

Palm-nut Vulture

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Pale Chanting-Goshawk

Pale Chanting-Goshawk

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