Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Phaeochroa cuvierii
Rather large, dull-plumaged hummingbird of humid tropical lowlands. Favors forest edge and adjacent clearings with trees, flowering bushes, and gardens. Best field marks are its large size and big white tail corners. Sexes look alike: dull greenish overall with medium-length, straightish black bill, dingy buffy belly, and white spot behind eye (like many hummingbirds). Breast is vaguely mottled and not obviously scaly.
Identification
The scaly-breasted hummingbird is 11.5 to 13 cm (4.5 to 5.1 in) long and weighs about 8 to 10 g (0.28 to 0.35 oz). All of the subspecies except P. c. roberti have a mostly black bill with a pink base to the mandible; roberti's is all black. Males and females of all subspecies have the same plumage but females have a longer bill. The nominate subspecies P. c. cuvierii is the smallest and palest subspecies. It is mostly bronzy green with a grayish buff belly. The feathers of the underparts have buffy edges that give a scaly appearance. The tail is mostly bronzy, with white tips on the outer two or three pairs of feathers.<p>Subspecies P. c. roberti differs from the nominate by having black outer tail feathers with white tips. P. c. maculicauda has a greener throat than the nominate's and partially black outer tail feathers. P. c. furvescens has a darker green throat and upper breast and a paler belly than the nominate. P. c. saturatior is the largest and darkest subspecies but otherwise is similar to the nominate. P. c. berlepschi has a somewhat rusty belly and more white on the tips of the tail than the nominate.
Taxonomy
Most major taxonomic systems place the scaly-breasted hummingbird by itself in genus Phaeochroa. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) places it in the large genus Campylopterus and calls it the scaly-breasted sabrewing. All but HBW follow the findings of a 2014 study that found Campylpterus to be polyphyletic and resulted in the move of several species to other genera.<p>The worldwide systems agree that the scaly-breasted hummingbird has these six subspecies:<p>P. c. roberti has been suggested as a separate species.
- Scientific name
- Phaeochroa cuvierii
- Authority
- (Delattre & Bourcier, 1846)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Phaeochroa
Range and habitat
The scaly-breasted hummingbird is distributed thus:<p>The scaly-breasted hummingbird inhabits a variety of semi-open to open landscapes including dry forest, edges and clearings of gallery and humid forest, mangroves, secondary forest, scrublands, and gardens. It shuns the interior of closed forest. It usually occurs from the understory to the mid-strata but also in the canopy at forest edges. It is mainly at low elevation but is found locally as high as 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Costa Rica.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The scaly-breasted hummingbird is mostly sedentary but makes local movements to follow flowering events.<p>The scaly-breasted hummingbird forages for nectar at a variety of flowering trees, shrubs, and bromeliads. If feeds on them both by hovering and, for large blooms, perching. It aggressively defends patches of flowers and is dominant over smaller hummingbirds. In addition to nectar, it feeds on arthropods caught by hawking and also by gleaning from vegetation.<p>The scaly-breasted hummingbird mostly breeds during the rainy season, between May and December in Guatemala and May to January in Costa Rica. Assemblages of males display for females at leks. It builds a cup nest of plant down and spiderweb with much moss and lichen on the outside. It typically places it in a small tree as a saddle on a horizontal branch 2 to 8 m (7 to 30 ft) above the ground. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for 17 to 19 days and fledging occurs 22 to 29 days after hatch.<p>The scaly-breasted hummingbird's song is "a loud, variable, continuous warble...a mix of chips, sharp squeaks and short trills or sputters". During chases it makes "a high-pitched descending trill" and other calls include "a repeated short burry 'trrk', [a] wet 'tlek', and a more emphatic 'chick'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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Pitta-like Ground-Roller
Atelornis pittoides
Chunky, long-legged, colorful bird. White shoulder marks are conspicuous in flight. Less shy and more approachable than the other ground-rollers. Found in eastern and northern rainforest and in adjacent scrub. Feeds in the understory, avoiding disturbance by fleeing on the ground or making short flights. Song is a quick “bwuup” note that is repeated slowly, delivered from a perch in the mid-story. Lacks the intricate scaly marks of Scaly Ground-Roller and the rufous head and body of Rufous-headed Ground-Roller.
Versicolored Barbet
Eubucco versicolor
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