Wine-throated Hummingbird
Selasphorus ellioti
Tiny (bumblebee-sized) hummingbird of humid forest in the mountains of Chiapas and south to Honduras. Favors shrubby clearings and edges in evergreen forests, including banks of flowers where other hummingbirds gather. Very inconspicuous, but males sometimes sing persistently from exposed perches. Male has expansive, magenta-pink gorget, rather short tail with rusty base and white corners on the tail tips. Female has dark-spotted throat and the same tail pattern as male. Very similar Bumblebee Hummingbird does not overlap in range.
Identification
The wine-throated hummingbird is 6.5 to 7 cm (2.6 to 2.8 in) long. Females weigh 2 to 4 g (0.071 to 0.14 oz); male weights are not documented. Both sexes of both subspecies have a short, straight, blackish bill and a small white spot behind the eye.<p>Males of the nominate subspecies have green upperparts. Their gorget is glittering rose pink with violet highlights, and its longer hindward feathers flare out and back. The flanks are a mix of cinnamon and green and the rest of the underparts are whitish. The central pair of tail feathers are green with some rufous at the base. The rest of the tail feathers are rufous with a wide black band near the end; the outermost pair have white tips. The nominate female also has green upperparts. The chin and throat are white with many dusky spots. The upper breast is white, the center of the belly whitish, and the flanks and undertail coverts are cinnamon. The tail has more black and less rufous than the male's, and the outer feathers' tips are more cinnamon than white.<p>Subspecies S. e. selasphoroides is slightly smaller than the nominate. Males' plumage is similar to the nominate's. However, their gorget has no blue or violet and even looks green at some angles, the underparts are more buff than white, and the outer tail feather tips are buff. The female has smaller metallic spots on the throat, the flanks and undertail coverts are buff, and the inner tail feather tips are dusky and the outer ones buff.
Taxonomy
The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, and the Clements taxonomy place the wine-throated hummingbird in genus Selasphorus. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) places it in genus Atthis. The three worldwide taxonomic systems assign two subspecies, the nominate S. e. ellioti/A. e. ellioti and S. e. selasphoroides/A. e. selasphoroides.
- Scientific name
- Selasphorus ellioti
- Authority
- (Ridgway, 1878)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Selasphorus
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of wine-throated hummingbird is the more northerly. It is found in southern Mexico's Chiapas state and much of Guatemala. S. e. selasphoroides is found in western Honduras and northern El Salvador. The species inhabits several montane landscapes including the interiors, edges, and clearings of semi-humid to humid pine-oak and evergreen forest, and also adjacent shrublands. In elevation it ranges between 1,500 and 3,500 m (4,900 and 11,500 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
San Blas Jay
Cyanocorax sanblasianus
Handsome blue-and-black jay of tropical forests, woodlands, and gardens endemic to west Mexico. Usually in small groups, which can be noisy and conspicuous or very quiet and easily overlooked; often with Yellow-winged Caciques. Around the town of San Blas (in Nayarit, Mexico), appreciably larger Purplish-backed Jay occurs at southern end of its range (and northern end of San Blas Jay’s range). Purplish-backed is deep purplish blue on back and tail, not strikingly two-toned blue-and-black like San Blas Jay, and has bright yellow legs. Voices also very different. Purplish-backed occurs in mangroves and adjacent woodlands in and around town while San Blas Jay occurs in foothill forest of coffee plantations south of town.
Cinnamon Woodpecker
Celeus loricatus
One of several species of mostly rufous woodpeckers with a crest. On Cinnamon, look for pale off-white belly with black scaling, and uniformly rufous head and back. Sexes mostly similar; male has red mustache stripe. Mainly a forest bird, found singly or in pairs, usually at middle levels or in the canopy. Listen for series of loud breathy whistles descending in pitch, similar to several other species in this genus.
Three-wattled Bellbird
Procnias tricarunculatus
Male is unmistakable. Body dark rufous, head and breast gleaming white, with three bare wattles hanging down off the bill. Usually perches conspicuously when singing; the far-carrying bell-like notes and strange metallic alien noises are fascinating additions to the forest cacophony. Female is completely different, overall dull olive with yellower streaking on underparts. The fairly large size, plump shape, small rounded head, and plain face help with identification. Found in forests, usually in the canopy. Easiest to find when singing, but also feeds at fruiting trees.
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