Saw-billed Hermit
Ramphodon naevius
Large strikingly-patterned hummingbird of the Atlantic Forest understory, but also visits feeders along forest edges. Note the distinctive bicolored bill with a hooked tip, pale eyebrow, and an orange throat bleeding into a pin-striped breast. The tail is dark with orange sides. The female is slightly smaller with a shorter and more curved bill.
Identification
The saw-billed hermit is 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 5.3 to 9 g (0.19 to 0.32 oz). It is one of the three heaviest hermits and the male is heavier than the female. Both sexes have saw-like serrations on the mandible and the male's bill has a hooked tip as well. (The unrelated tooth-billed hummingbird (Androdon aequatorialis) is the only other hummingbird that has a serrated bill.) Both sexes have scaly brown upperparts and dark and pale striped underparts. They have a reddish ochre throat, a dark patch through the eye, and a white supercilium. The upper side of the tail is purplish black while the underside has progressively more buff at the ends to the outer pair of feathers.
Taxonomy
The saw-billed hermit is placed in the hermit subfamily Phaethornithinae, but among these birds, it is the species most similar to the typical hummingbirds, Trochilinae. It is the only member of its genus and has no subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Ramphodon naevius
- Authority
- (Dumont, 1818)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Ramphodon
Range and habitat
The saw-billed hermit is found in a narrow band of southeastern Brazil from the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo south to eastern Santa Catarina and northernmost Rio Grande do Sul. It inhabits the understory of the humid coastal Atlantic Forest up to an elevation of 500 m (1,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The saw-billed hermit is presumed to be sedentary, but there is speculation that it makes some short-range movements.<p>The saw-billed hermit feeds on the nectar of a wide range of native and introduced flowering plants; most share the characteristic of tubular blossoms. It typically feeds within about 6 m (20 ft) of the ground but has been noted as high as 15 m (49 ft). Like other hermit hummingbirds it is a "trap-line" feeder, visiting a circuit of flowering plants. However, unlike many other trap-liners it defends its route by aggressive behavior towards conspecific and other hummingbirds. In addition to nectar, it feeds on small arthropods gleaned from vegetation.<p>The saw-billed hermit's breeding season has not been fully defined but appears to include July to September. It builds its cone-shaped cup nest from plant material and cobwebs under the tip of a long drooping leaf. Its clutch is two eggs.<p>The saw-billed hermit's song is a "very high, chattering twitter". Calls include "a sustained, rapid series of very high 'bic' notes" and "a descending series...of 'seee' notes." The calls are apparently used while defending the trap-line.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-vented Malimbe
Malimbus scutatus
A striking black-and-red forest malimbe with a unique red patch on the vent. Male has a black face and a red crown, neck and breast; female only has red on the breast. A fairly common resident within its range, found in pairs in the middle levels and canopy of tall primary and secondary lowland forest, farmbush, cultivation, and clumps of trees near villages. Occasionally joins flocks, sometimes with other malimbes, and gleans leaves and thin twigs in the manner of a tit. Calls include a hard “tchuk” and also a cicada-like “zee-zee-zee.” Other similar-looking malimbes lack the red vent patch.
Tanahjampea Monarch
Symposiachrus everetti
A striking black-and-white flycatcher-like songbird confined to Tanahjampea Island. Black above, with a black hood and upper chest and a crisp white lower breast, belly, rump, and tips to outer tail feathers. Black areas are brown in juvenile, which has a buff belly and rump. Cocks tail regularly. Found singly or in pairs in forest, mangrove, and scrub in lowlands and foothills. Often joins mixed-species flocks. Unique within its tiny range. Song is a mournful, repeated whistle, “weeoo-weeoo...”. Also gives a rasping, agitated “grrr” and metallic, grating “weer” calls.
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Large-headed songbird with confusingly dissimilar male and female plumages. Male has an orange back, white throat, orangish belly, and a black head and wings. Female is green-winged and gray-headed, with a darker crown and triangular patch behind the ear. She shares the male’s warm-colored belly, but hers is more salmon-pink than orange-yellow. The species inhabits mature foothill forests, where it may often be seen with mixed-species foraging flocks.
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