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
The wine-throated hummingbird forages for nectar at a variety of flowering plants, though details of its diet are lacking. It feeds at all levels of the vegetation but favors the low to middle heights; it hovers to feed. It is assumed to also eat small arthropods like most other hummingbirds.<p>Male wine-throated hummingbirds display for females at dispersed leks, where they sing from an exposed branch. The species' nesting season has not been documented but could extend from August to February. Almost nothing else is known about its breeding phenology.<p>The wine-throated hummingbird's song is "a series of high, slightly buzzy, squeaky chips that break into a warble." It also makes "high, thin, sharp chips, often repeated steadily, sip-sip ... or cheup cheup ..., etc." The male's wings make a "thrum" sound when hovering to feed and also during agonistic encounters with other males.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Sooty-headed Wren
Pheugopedius spadix
A medium-sized wren found in the understory of foothill forest from eastern Panama into Colombia. Appears dark rufous overall with a mostly black head and grayer crown. Look for the messy white markings on the face. Pairs can be found skulking in dense tangles within forest, where they are difficult to see. Listen for the sweet whistled song.
Bronze-winged Parrot
Pionus chalcopterus
A medium-sized parrot that usually looks all dark. With a good view, note the deep bluish-purple color overall with bronzy wings, messy pink splotches on the upper breast, and red undertail coverts. In flight, the bright blue underwings often stand out. Also look for the very deep wingbeats that seem to almost touch on the downstroke and barely come above horizontal on the upstroke – this helps separate members of the Pionus genus from the larger Amazona parrots. Bronze-winged is fairly common in forest and adjacent clearings in lowlands and foothills, up to around 2,500m. It is usually found in small flocks, most often seen in flight but also perched in the canopy or around fruiting trees.
Socotra Buzzard
Buteo socotraensis
A typical medium-sized brown-and-white buzzard that was only recognized as distinct in 2010. The underparts are whitish buff with heavily streaked underparts (lighter on the throat). Underwings display significant contrast, with pale primaries and secondaries standing out against black 'wrists' and rusty 'wingpits'. Juveniles are buffier and less heavily streaked. Uncommon resident endemic to Socotra, mostly between 150–800m, preferring ravines and cliffs; other buzzards are vagrants. Calls like other buzzards.
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