Purple-throated Woodstar
Philodice mitchellii
Woodstars are tiny hummingbirds that fly like bumblebees. Purple-throated is restricted to the west slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador, where it inhabits cloud forest, edges, and second growth from 800–2,000 m. Males have a glittering purple throat, white chest band, fairly long forked tail, and white patches on the sides of the rump. Unlikely to be confused within range. Females are trickier; note the orangey belly with a variable amount of smudgy white in the center (never as extensive as on female White-bellied Woodstar) and the thin whitish line that extends behind the eye and wraps around the neck (not as wide or buffy as on Little Woodstar). Often seen singly feeding in the canopy; visits feeders.
Identification
The purple-throated woodstar is 6.8 to 7.5 cm (2.7 to 3.0 in) long and weighs 3.0 to 3.3 g (0.11 to 0.12 oz). Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill. Both have dusky bronze-green upperparts with a white patch on either side of the rump. The male has a small white spot behind the eye and the female a downward curved white line there. The male's gorget is shining violet-purple with a white band below it. Its lower breast is dusky bronze and the belly and flanks rufous. The forked tail is brownish purple. The female has a buffy white throat with dusky speckles at the side, a white band below it, a green lower breast, and a rufous belly. Its central tail feathers are bronze-green and the others cinnamon with a black band near the end.
Taxonomy
The purple-throated woodstar is placed in genus Philodice by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). According to them, it shares the genus with the magenta-throated woodstar (P. bryantae). However, the North American Classification Committee of AOS and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retain them in the older genus Calliphlox.<p>All the taxonomies agree that the purple-throated woodstar is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Philodice mitchellii
- Authority
- (Bourcier, 1847)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Philodice
Range and habitat
The purple-throated woodstar is found discontinuously in eastern Panama's Darién Province, along both slopes of Colombia's western Andes and south to central Ecuador, and in southern Ecuador. It inhabits the edges and interior of humid forest and cloudforest. In elevation in ranges from sea level to 2,400 m (7,900 ft) but is most numerous above 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
At least in Colombia, the purple-throated woodstar breeds at higher elevations and moves to lower ones outside that season.<p>The purple-throated woodstar forages for nectar high in flowering trees such as those of genera Cordia and Inga. Males defend feeding territories. In addition to feeding on nectar the species captures small arthropods by hawking from a perch.<p>The purple-throated woodstar breeds between December and May in southwestern Colombia; its breeding season elsewhere has not been determined. It builds a tiny cup nest of fine fibers and spiderweb on a thick branch of a tall tree, typically 8 to 12 m (26 to 39 ft) above the ground. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for 15 to 17 days; the time to fledging is not known.<p>The purple-throated woodstar's song has not been described. Its calls include "a series of thin 'chit' notes" and "a squeaky 'kyee-kyee-kyee-kyee'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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