Blue-fronted Lancebill
Doryfera johannae
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.
Identification
The blue-fronted lancebill is 9.6 to 11 cm (3.8 to 4.3 in) long. Males weigh 3 to 5 g (0.11 to 0.18 oz) and females 3.3 to 6 g (0.12 to 0.21 oz). Both sexes have a long straight to slightly upcurved bill, and often hold it at an upward angle. Males of the nominate subspecies have a violet forehead ("front"), a bronze nape, and otherwise dark bronzy green upperparts. The tail is short and blue-black. The underparts are blue-black with a bluish green gloss on the throat and breast. The female differs from the male by having a greenish blue forehead and dull grayish bronzy green underparts. Both sexes of D. j. guianensis have a shorter bill than the nominate and are overall paler but similarly colored.
Taxonomy
The blue-fronted lancebill has two subspecies, the nominate D. j. johannae and D. j. guianensis. It shares its genus only with the very similar green-fronted lancebill (D. ludovicae).
- Scientific name
- Doryfera johannae
- Authority
- (Bourcier, 1847)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Doryfera
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of blue-fronted lancebill is found on the east slope of the Andes from east central Colombia south through eastern Ecuador to central and southeastern Peru. It inhabits wet forests of lower Andean slopes and foothills and the adjacent lowlands. It favors ravines, gorges, and rock outcroppings and usually occurs from the forest's middle strata into the lower canopy. However, it occurs down to the shrub level at forest edges. In elevation it mostly ranges between 800 and 1,200 m (2,600 and 3,900 ft). D. j. guianensis is found disjunctly in southeastern Venezuela, western Guyana, and slightly into adjoining northern Brazil. It inhabits tropical and subtropical forests on the area's tepuis, mostly at elevations between 900 and 2,000 m (3,000 and 6,600 ft), and does not occur in the lowlands between them.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The blue-fronted lancebill is assumed to be mostly sedentary but might make some seasonal elevational movements.<p>The blue-fronted lancebill's diet is nectar and small arthropods. It draws the former from tubular flowers, typically those that droop or are horizontal. It does not usually defend feeding territories. It catches arthropods on the wing or by hover-gleaning from vegetation.<p>The blue-fronted lancebill's breeding season varies in different parts of its range but has not been thoroughly studied. Only one nest has been described in detail. It was a cylinder made of moss and spider silk with a cup at the top and was suspended from a rock overhang in a shallow cave.<p>The blue-fronted lancebill's song has not been described and apparently has not been recorded. While foraging it makes "thin, dry, chittering notes...e.g. 'chuert'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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