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
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous-throated Fulvetta
Schoeniparus rufogularis
Smartly patterned small brown forest-dweller. Warm russet-brown above with smudgy gray-brown underparts. Clean white eyebrow and throat contrast sharply with an orange-brown “chinstrap” and a warm brown crown bounded by black stripes. Active in dense undergrowth, frequently traveling with other species in mixed flocks. Generally not as bold as other small fulvettas, and does not clamber around in the open on exposed trunks and branches. Song is a melodiously bright and brief “chewee-chewee-peeta!” Calls include an explosive “chom-wit!” and softer whistling and churring.
Buller's Albatross
Thalassarche bulleri
Breeds in New Zealand and ranges across the temperate South Pacific to the Humboldt Current; uncommon off Chile and Peru. All ages have thick black leading edge on the underwing, wider than the narrower black edge on larger Salvin’s and Chatham Albatrosses, and narrower than on stockier Gray-headed Albatross, a bird of cold subantarctic waters. Adult Buller’s has gray hood with silvery white crown and thick yellow edges on black bill. First-year birds have a paler gray hood, a pale bill with black “seam lines,” and black subterminal band; mostly like adult in 3 years. Compare with immature of larger Salvin’s Albatross.
Red-crested Bustard
Lophotis ruficrista
A medium-sized, black-bellied bustard with diagnostic white chevrons on a brown-and-black mottled back. The male has a brown-gray neck and slaty cap, and the female is plainer. The name is misleading, as the red crest is almost always hidden. It walks slowly and steadily in arid woodlands, where it is common but due to its camouflage often avoids detection. The song is a sequence of clicking “tic-tic” notes that are followed by a mournful piping “sweee-swee-sweee sweet” series that accelerates to a crescendo. The male indulges in an absurd display in which he flies nearly vertically into the sky and then folds his wings and somersaults down as if shot, only to unbelievably land on his feet. In flight the Red-crested Bustard’s all-black underwings differentiate it from Black-bellied Bustard, which has white windows in the underwing.
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