Koepcke's Hermit
Phaethornis koepckeae
Large, orangish hermit from the Andean foothills. Light orange with a grayish-green back and a black mask typical of hermits. Warmer orange than similar hermits like Great-billed and White-bearded; larger and more slender-bodied than White-browed and Reddish Hermits; bolder facial pattern and slightly more curved bill than the similar Needle-billed Hermit, which replaces this species in the lowlands and does not often overlap in range.
Identification
Koepcke's hermit is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long. Males weigh 4.7 to 5.8 g (0.17 to 0.20 oz) and females 4.5 to 4.9 g (0.16 to 0.17 oz). It is one of the few hermit hummingbirds with a nearly straight bill. It has a blackish crown glossed with greenish, a glossy greenish bronze nape, a glossy bronze back, and a rufous rump. The tail is mostly dark glossy green. The innermost pair of tail feathers are longer than the others and have white tips; the others have broad buffy rufous tips. The face has a black "mask" bordered with narrow white streaks. The chin and throat are white, the center of the breast pale reddish buff with grayer sides, and the belly and flanks a rich reddish buff.
Taxonomy
Koepcke's hermit is monotypic. It and the needle-billed hermit (P. philippii) are sister species and may form a superspecies.
- Scientific name
- Phaethornis koepckeae
- Authority
- Weske & Terborgh, 1977
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Phaethornis
Range and habitat
Koepcke's hermit is found on the eastern foothills of the Peruvian Andes from just south of the Marañón River in Amazonas south to central Madre de Dios. In elevation it ranges between 450 and 1,300 m (1,500 and 4,300 ft), and the distribution is patchy. It inhabits the understory of tall evergreen forest and humid montane forest. It generally shuns secondary forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Koepcke's hermit is assumed to be a "trap-line" feeder like other hermit hummingbirds, visiting a circuit of a wide variety of flowering plants for nectar. It also consumes small arthropods.<p>The breeding season of Koepcke's hermit has not been defined. It builds a conical nest suspended from the underside of the tip of a drooping leaf.<p>Koepcke's hermit's song is "a ringing, buzzy series of short notes: b'zee b'zee b'zee" Its calls include "a ringing, rising tchwee or tchwing and "a descending, accelerating series of high notes".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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