Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Amazilia tzacatl
Handsome, medium-size hummingbird of humid tropical lowlands. Favors forest edge, second growth, gardens in some areas. Feeds low to high and often comes to feeders. Can be difficult to distinguish from Buff-bellied Hummingbird, which favors drier habitats. Rufous-tailed has a dingier, grayish belly and more extensive rusty on the tail, which lacks the distinct fork often shown by Buff-bellied’s tail. Also compare Cinnamon Hummingbird.
Identification
The rufous-tailed hummingbird is 9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in) long and weighs approximately 5 g (0.18 oz). The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a green head and upperparts except for chestnut-brown lores and uppertail coverts. The tail is also mostly chestnut-brown, giving the species its English name; the feathers' outer webs and tips are bronze green. The throat, upper breast, and sides are green; the throat feathers sometimes have thin white edges giving a scalloped effect. The lower breast is gray, the belly white, and the undertail coverts chestnut-brown. The adult female's lower breast is a paler gray than the male's and the scalloping on the throat is more pronounced. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash to the lower breast and sides and the feathers of the lower back and rump have narrow cinnamon tips. The outer half of the bill's maxilla is black and the inner half red; the mandible is red with a black tip.<p>The song is "varied, high, thin, squeaky chirping, tsi, tsi-tsi-tsit tsi-tsitsi tsi-si-si." Its calls are "a fairly hard, smacking tchik-tchik...or...tchi tchi..., at times repeated insistently" and "dry, hard chips often run into a rattling chirr-rr-rr-rr-rr".<p>A. t. handleyi has the same color pattern as the nominate but is significantly larger and darker. A. t. fuscicaudata is smaller than the nominate and has a shorter and stouter bill. A. t. jucunda's maxilla is pinkish brown rather than black; its belly is a darker gray than the nominate's and the bronze green on the tail is narrower. A. t. brehmi is similar to jucunda and fuscicaudata but has longer wings and tail. It has a longer bill than fuscicaudata and reduced green on the tail like jucunda.
Taxonomy
The rufous-tailed hummingbird was formally described in 1833 by the Mexican naturalist Pablo de La Llave. He placed it in the genus Trochlilus and coined the binomial name Trochilus tzacatl. The rufous-tailed hummingbird is now placed in the genus Amazilia and was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson. The genus name comes from the Inca heroine in Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas, ou la destruction de l'Empire du Pérou. The specific epithet is from Aztec mythology: Tzacatl was a warrior chief.<p>The rufous-tailed hummingbird has these five recognized subspecies:<p>A. t. handleyi was originally described as a separate species, the Escudo hummingbird. At least one author treated the rufous-tailed hummingbird and the chestnut-bellied hummingbird (Saucerottia castaneiventris) as a superspecies; the latter was included in the genus Amazilia at that time, but the two are now known to not be closely related. Some authors have doubted that A. t. fuscicaudata should be a separate subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Amazilia tzacatl
- Authority
- (de la Llave, 1833)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Amazilia
Range and habitat
The subspecies of the rufous-tailed hummingbird are found thus:<p>The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society extends the range of A. t. jucunda into Peru.<p>The rufous-tailed hummingbird inhabits open, non-forested, landscapes such as clearings, gardens, and the edges of forest. It is also found in low, young, brushy, secondary forests. It frequently comes to feeders. In elevation, the rufous-tailed hummingbird ranges from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Mexico, to 1,850 m (6,100 ft) in Costa Rica, 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Colombia, and 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in Venezuela. It is found as high as 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Ecuador but that elevation is thought to be local or seasonal.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Like most hummingbirds, the rufous-tailed feeds on nectar and small insects. It is common at sugar water feeders and often seen in coffee and banana plantations. It is extremely territorial and aggressive at feeding sites such as flower patches and feeders, from which it chases other hummingbirds and large insects.<p>The rufous-tailed hummingbird is polygynous. Though it is aggressive while feeding, the species sometimes nests in loose colonies. Its breeding season varies widely across its range but is within the February to November span. The female is entirely responsible for nest building, incubation of eggs, and care of nestlings. She lays two white eggs in a compact cup nest constructed from plant fibers, leaves, and spiderwebs covered with lichens and mosses. It is typically placed up to 6 m (20 ft) high on a thin horizontal twig. Incubation takes 15 to 19 days, and fledging another 18 to 22 days.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Citrine Wagtail
Motacilla citreola
Widespread and fairly common over much of Asia; rare to western Europe. Breeding males spectacular and unmistakable: bright yellow head and body contrasts with black collar and gray (most of range) or black (central and southern Asia) back. Females and non breeding males less conspicuous, dull yellow with dark cheek patch isolated in yellow face and a gray crown and back. Juveniles have same cheek pattern but are dingy grayish overall without yellow tones (or just faint yellow face). White wingbars conspicuous in all plumages; also note pale lores. More tied to water than Eastern Yellow, Western Yellow, or White Wagtail; usually seen at marshes and lake edges. Contact call "tsriip," harsher than Eastern and Western Yellow Wagtail.
Cinnamon Screech-Owl
Megascops petersoni
Small screech-owl with a scattered distribution in the Andes. It inhabits cloud forest in southeastern Ecuador and northern Peru, as well as a few locations in Colombia and Venezuela. Most birds have bright cinnamon-buff plumage, but some are brown and tan. Distinguished from the similar Rufescent Screech-Owl by the lack of any white marks on the shoulders, and by voice. Song is a fast, rising and falling series of soft “pu” notes. The speed at which the notes are given is quite variable.
Eastern Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla tschutschensis
Attractive ground-dwelling bird. Slender and long-tailed, bright yellow below with paler throat and grayish-olive back; extremely variable. Tail is black with white outer feathers; often pumps tail up and down while walking on the ground. Young birds lack yellow color, but have distinctive head pattern. Often seen near water. Listen for high-pitched, piercing call note. Common breeder on Arctic tundra from Alaska to Russia; found in grassy and waterside habitats in Southeast Asian wintering grounds and in migration.
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