Lucifer Hummingbird
Calothorax lucifer
Small hummingbird with long, curved bill. Male dusky-greenish with contrasting white chest, expansive purple throat, and long forked tail (usually held closed in a point). Female is buffy below with a dusky mask and buffy eyebrow. All ages and sexes are most easily identified by bill shape. Found in deserts; shows a preference for flowering agave plants. Primarily a Mexican species, with very limited range in the U.S. Occurs to just south of Mexico City, where range limit with extremely similar Beautiful Hummingbird is not perfectly known. Male Lucifer has pointed outer tail feathers vs. blunt on Beautiful, but otherwise essentially inseparable.
Identification
The lucifer sheartail is a medium-sized, 10-centimetre (3.9 in) long, green hummingbird with a long curved bill, small wings, and white streak behind its eye. The male has an iridescent plumage, forked dark tail, green crown, long magenta gorget, and white underparts. The female is larger with duller plumage, pale throat and white or buff feathers underside, usually with crimson trim.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Calothorax lucifer
- Authority
- (Swainson, 1827)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Calothorax
Range and habitat
The lucifer sheartail is distributed to deserts and arid areas with agave plants in the southwestern United States, from southwest Texas, extreme southwestern New Mexico to southeastern Arizona, and in central and northern Mexico. It is also found in the Madrean sky islands of the northern end of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico.[citation needed] Its preferred habitat tends to be at altitudes of 3,500–5,500 feet (1,100–1,700 m) in canyons, mountain slopes, and dry washes having desert shrubs and cacti. In winter, the birds migrate to central Mexico.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Chunky hummingbird with a long, mostly straight bill. Male’s bluish-purple forecrown and mostly black underparts are distinctive. Female lacks black and has a green forecrown; she is very similar to female Green-fronted Lancebill but is smaller, has less extensive bronzy tones on the head, a bluish tail, and a lighter forecrown. Typically found in middle elevation cloud forest, often near streams. In the Andean part of its range, it is only found on the east slope. Visits feeders.
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