Hook-billed Hermit
Glaucis dohrnii
A range-restricted hermit with a gently curved bill. Dark green above and rusty below, with a prominent broad white eyebrow and a greenish tail with a white tip. Found in humid forests, where it forages in the understory, favoring Heliconia plants. The similar Rufous-breasted Hermit has a more strongly curved bill and a bronzy tail with a white tip.
Identification
The hook-billed hermit is 12 to 13 cm (4.7 to 5.1 in) long. Males weigh 6 to 9 g (0.21 to 0.32 oz) and females 5.5 to 7 g (0.19 to 0.25 oz). Its upperparts are greenish bronze and the underparts cinnamon. The face has a white supercilium and "moustache" and is otherwise dusky. The tail is metallic bronze with white-tipped outer feathers. Its bill is nearly straight. The sexes have essentially the same plumage though the female's underparts are somewhat paler than the male's.
Taxonomy
The hook-billed hermit was for a time placed in genus Ramphodon, but morphological characteristics place it firmly in Glaucis. It is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Glaucis dohrnii
- Authority
- (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1852)
- Order
- Caprimulgiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Glaucis
Range and habitat
The hook-billed hermit is found only at a few sites in the southeastern Brazilian states of Bahia and Espírito Santo in Neotropical realm forest climates. It probably formerly occurred in Minas Gerais and possibly Rio de Janeiro states, though in the latter it is known only from trade skins that might have originated elsewhere. It inhabits the understory of inland primary and littoral forests, usually along streams. It favors areas with abundant Heliconia plants. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The hook-billed hermit is thought to be sedentary or a non migration period lifestyle. However, the few records from any one site make that determination difficult.<p>Like other hermit hummingbirds, the hook-billed hermit is a "trap-line" feeder, visiting a circuit of flowering plants. It feeds on nectar at Heliconia and other plants and also on small arthropods, but details are lacking.<p>The hook-billed hermit's breeding season is believed to span from September to February. The nest is made from plant material and cobwebs under the tip of a long drooping leaf. Its clutch is two eggs.<p>The hook-billed hermit's song is described as similar to those of the rufous-breasted hermit (G. hirsutus), a "rapid 'seep-seep-seep'", and the saw-billed hermit (Ramphodon naevius), "a descending series...of 'seee' notes."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Elegant mountain stream specialist, endemic to Java and Sumatra. Typically encountered foraging alongside narrow and fast-moving forest waterways at 600-2000 meters. Dark gray above and white below, with a dark throat and slender white stripe around the forehead. Males have a gray crown, while females have a dark maroon one (difficult to see in poor lighting). Also note bright white rump. White-crowned Forktail is significantly larger, with white wingbars and a larger white forehead patch. Calls loudly, especially when alarmed, giving high thin whistles. Often bobs tail.
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