Mexican Sheartail
Doricha eliza
Only in Mexico. Fairly common small hummingbird of dry coastal scrub in northern Yucatan Peninsula; also very local in dry scrub of central Veracruz. Favors fairly open areas with low scrubby bushes and agave plants. Note the long and slightly arched bill and the long tail, which is usually held closed in a single point. Striking male is distinctive if you are lucky enough to see one. Females and immatures have a distinctive dusky cheek stripe, and usually outnumber adult males by at least 5 to 1.
Identification
This is a tiny bird, weighing only 2.4 to 2.6 g (0.085 to 0.092 oz). All Mexican sheartails have a long, curved and black bill, a dull green crown and bronzy-green nape and upperparts. Males and females are sexual dimorphic. The male, which are 9 to 10 centimetres (3.5 to 3.9 in) long including the tail, have a white line behind the eye and a pink-purple throat with a white band below. His underparts are dull green, being clearer on median belly and feathers cover his undertail. The male's tail is long and deeply forked, usually held closed in repose. His inner tail are feathers green, the rest being black with cinnamon inner margins. Female, at 8.5 to 9 cm (3.3 to 3.5 in), has a whitish face with a blackish stripe behind the eye. Her throat, chest and belly are whitish with cinnamon tinges on the sides. The female has a shorter forked tail, the outer feathers of which are reddish with a subterminal black band and white tips. Immatures are similar to females.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Doricha eliza
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP & Delattre, 1839)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Doricha
Range and habitat
It is found only in Mexico where it lives in two disjunct populations, one in the center of Veracruz and the other in the northern coastal area of the Yucatan Peninsula.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, mangroves, rural gardens and urban areas. A specific example of the mangrove habitat is the Petenes mangroves ecoregion in the Yucatán Peninsula.The species is threatened by habitat loss.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Mexican sheartail feeds on nectar from flowers and has been seen visiting Ipomoea, Justicia and Helicteres guazumaefolia. It also sometimes consumes small arthropods. In Veracruz, breeding takes place from May onwards and in Yucatán, between August and April. The tiny cup-shaped nest is made of lichens, spiders webs and the seeds of daisy family plants. Two eggs are laid and newly fledged young have been reported from Yucatán in February and March.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Halmahera Boobook
Ninox hypogramma
A brown owl with a rounded head, yellow eyes, and rufescent barred underparts. Inhabits forest in the lowlands and lower foothills, where it usually occurs in territorial pairs. Confined to the North Moluccas, where it overlaps with migrant Northern Boobook and Barking Owl, but can be separated from those species by its barred underparts and very different voice. Song is a gruff, abrupt, two-note frog-like “woo-wooo” with a slightly longer second note.
White-browed Brushfinch
Arremon torquatus
Handsome brushfinch found in humid forest along the east slope of the Andes in Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and far southeastern Peru. It has an olive back, black mask, striped head, and white throat. In the northern part of its range it also has a black breast-band. Similar to Gray-browed Brushfinch, but has white (not gray) eyebrow; also note range. Inhabits thickets in forest understory. Typical song is a seesawing series of three to four high-pitched whistles.
Masked Cardinal
Paroaria nigrogenis
Unmistakable tricolored bird, with bold red, black, and white patches. Red hood and throat, black mask, mostly black back and tail, and white underparts. Sexes similar. Often found in groups of juveniles and adults near water in riverine forests, scrub, and savanna, mostly in lowlands. Song a clear “FEEup-feep! Fueet-feeut! Fueet-feep feep.” Formerly considered conspecific with the very similar Red-capped Cardinal, but no range overlap.
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