Tepui Goldenthroat
Polytmus milleri
Medium-sized green hummingbird with a rounded, white-tipped tail and decurved black bill, found only in the tepui region of Venezuela and Guyana. Female is very similar to male but with some spotting on the green underparts. Common in dry to humid grassy areas with small trees or scrub, forest edges, gallery forest, and morichales. Mostly alone, feeding at flowers and often catching insects. Voice is a series of loud and high pitch “tsit” notes.
Identification
The tepui goldenthroat is 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long. Males weigh 4.5 to 6.1 g (0.16 to 0.22 oz) and females 4.1 to 5 g (0.14 to 0.18 oz). Males have bronzy green upperparts and glittering green underparts. The tail is shades of green with a wide white band at the base and white tips. The area around the eye is dusky gray with white streaks above and below it. The female is smaller than the male and has dull white underparts heavily dotted with golden-green, especially on the breast. Juveniles are like the adults but with buffy edges to the head's feathers.
Taxonomy
The tepui goldenthroat was at one time placed in the monotypic genus Waldronia that was later merged into Polytmus. It is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Polytmus milleri
- Authority
- (Chapman, 1929)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Polytmus
Range and habitat
The tepui goldenthroat is found only on the eponymous tepuis of southern and southeastern Venezuela and slightly into western Guyana and extreme northern Brazil. On these isolated flat-topped mountains it inhabits the edge of cloudforest and scrublands with scattered trees at elevations between 1,300 and 2,200 m (4,300 and 7,200 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The tepui goldenthroat is generally sedentary but makes some elevational dispersal after breeding.<p>The tepui goldenthroat is "trap-line" feeder, visiting a circuit of a variety of flowering plants for nectar. It also catches insects on the wing and gleans spiders from vegetation and rock cavities.<p>The tepui goldenthroat breeds in May and June. It builds a cup nest lined with fine fibers and decorated on the outside with lichen. It places it in a branch fork of a shrub, typically between 0.5 and 1 m (1.6 and 3.3 ft) above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs. The incubation time is 15 to 16 days.<p>The tepui goldenthroat gives a "loud series of 'tsit' or 'tizzie' notes" while foraging.
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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