Pirre Hummingbird
Goldmania bella
Rare and poorly-known hummingbird with extremely limited range near the border of Panama and Colombia. The most distinctive feature on this medium-sized hummingbird is the pale rufous outer tail feathers, present on both males and females. Also note small cinnamon patch on wings. Male has glittering blue-green throat. Female is paler below with a cinnamon wash on throat. Occurs in the foothills and highlands, usually in the lower to middle levels of forest.
Identification
The Pirre hummingbird is 8.4 to 9.5 cm (3.3 to 3.7 in) long. Males weigh about 3.0 to 3.5 g (0.11 to 0.12 oz) and females 3.0 to 4.0 g (0.11 to 0.14 oz). Both sexes have a slightly decurved bill with a black maxilla and a black-tipped pink mandible. The male has a chestnut forehead and lores. Its crown, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are metallic green; the lower back and rump have a bronzy cast. Its central pair of tail feathers have bronze green bases and black tips and the rest are cinnamon buff with black tips. Its chin is cinnamon buff, the throat, breast, and belly shiny bluish green, and the undertail coverts white. Females have entirely green upperparts without the male's chestnut forehead. Their lores are chestnut and their underparts pale cinnamon buff.
Taxonomy
The Pirre hummingbird was first described by Edward William Nelson in 1912 from specimens collected near Cana and the slopes of the Cerro Pirre in the Darién National Park in eastern Panama near the border with Colombia. Nelson coined the binomial name Goethalsia bella. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the Pirre hummingbird was closely related to the violet-capped hummingbird (Goldmania violiceps). Most taxonomic systems moved the species into Goldmania, which has priority. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retains it in Goethalsia.<p>The Pirre hummingbird is monotypic: No subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Goldmania bella
- Authority
- (Nelson, 1912)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Goldmania
Range and habitat
The Pirre hummingbird is found on a few isolated ridges in Panama's eastern Darién Province and in adjacent Chocó Department in Colombia. It inhabits the understory of the edges and interior of humid montane forest at elevations between 600 and 1,650 m (2,000 and 5,400 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Pirre hummingbird's movements, if any, have not been documented. <p>The Pirre hummingbird forages for nectar from near the ground to the middle levels of the forest. Its diet has not been described in detail but it has been observed feeding at Cephalus shrubs. In addition to nectar it is assumed to also feed on small arthropods like other hummingbirds. <p>Nothing is known about the Pirre hummingbird's breeding phenology and its nest has not been described. <p>The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library and xeno-canto have very few recordings of the Pirre hummingbird's vocalizations. It does make "a single sharp note repeated in a long series" while perched but its function is not known.
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Tropical Boubou
Laniarius major
Robust black-and-white bushshrike. There is a pale cinnamon wash on the belly and a white stripe across the top of the wing. Found in dense microhabitats within forest, woodland, thickets, and gardens. Not particularly shy, but spends most of its time in dense cover, usually in pairs. Highly vocal bird with a variety of calls. The song is a synchronized duet of hollow hoots from the male and ratcheting calls from the female. Has a very similar color pattern to other boubous, but its underparts are paler than those of Southern Boubou and darker than those of Swamp Boubou. Has a white stripe on the wing, unlike Zanzibar Boubou.
Rufous Songlark
Cincloramphus mathewsi
Plain brownish songbird with faint pale eyebrow and rust-colored rump. Similar female White-winged Triller has white-edged wing panel. Brown Songlark larger, with longer legs and bill and more strongly patterned upperparts. Found across much of Australia, less so in the southeast, in treeless open habitats. Spectacular song includes long sequences of trills and loud electrical phrases, very unlike Brown Songlark.
Collared Imperial-Pigeon
Ducula mullerii
The large, nomadic pigeon of mangroves and riverine forests. Note the distinctive, full black collar that narrows at the front and meets the maroon back. Black tail with white band across. Small flocks often seen in flight or perched up on exposed branches. Unmistakable when seen perched, but in flight similar to Pinon’s Imperial-Pigeon. Collared Imperial-Pigeon is much more likely in mangroves. Call, a deep, muffled “woo-oo pooo” with the first 2-note call falling and the last, lower in pitch.
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