Straight-billed Hermit
Phaethornis bourcieri
Large, drab grayish hermit with a long straight bill. Lacks a strong face pattern. Also note elongated white central tail feathers. Occurs in lowlands across much of northern South America, typically below 700 m. Found within terra firme forest, staying low and quickly zipping around flower patches in the understory.
Identification
The straight-billed hermit is 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 3.5 to 5 g (0.12 to 0.18 oz). It is one of the few hermit hummingbirds with a straight bill. Its upperparts are olive green and the underparts brownish to grayish. The innermost pair of tail feathers are longer than the others and have long white tips; the others also have white tips. P. b. major is significantly larger than the nominate but has similar plumage.
Taxonomy
The straight-billed hermit and needle-billed hermit (P. philippii) were at one time placed in genus Ametrornis that was later merged into Phaethornis. The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy recognize two subspecies, the nominate P. b. bourcieri and P. b. major. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) follows a 2017 publication and treats P. b. major as a separate species, the ash-bellied hermit. A third subspecies, P. b. whitelyi, has been proposed but its characteristics are within the variation seen in the rest of the nominate.
- Scientific name
- Phaethornis bourcieri
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP, 1832)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Phaethornis
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of straight-billed hermit is found from southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador into northeastern Peru and east through southern Venezuela and the Guianas into Brazil as far south as both banks of the Amazon River. P. b. major is found only in east-central Brazil south of the Amazon River and east of the lower Tapajós River. The species mostly inhabits the understory of terra firme forest and adjacent semi-deciduous and foothill forests. It can occasionally be found in other landscapes such as várzea forest, bamboo thickets, plantations, and secondary forest. In elevation it ranges as high as 1,600 m (5,200 ft), in southern Venezuela.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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