Mexican Sheartail

Doricha eliza

Only in Mexico. Fairly common small hummingbird of dry coastal scrub in northern Yucatan Peninsula; also very local in dry scrub of central Veracruz. Favors fairly open areas with low scrubby bushes and agave plants. Note the long and slightly arched bill and the long tail, which is usually held closed in a single point. Striking male is distinctive if you are lucky enough to see one. Females and immatures have a distinctive dusky cheek stripe, and usually outnumber adult males by at least 5 to 1.

识别特征

This is a tiny bird, weighing only 2.4 to 2.6 g (0.085 to 0.092 oz). All Mexican sheartails have a long, curved and black bill, a dull green crown and bronzy-green nape and upperparts. Males and females are sexual dimorphic. The male, which are 9 to 10 centimetres (3.5 to 3.9 in) long including the tail, have a white line behind the eye and a pink-purple throat with a white band below. His underparts are dull green, being clearer on median belly and feathers cover his undertail. The male's tail is long and deeply forked, usually held closed in repose. His inner tail are feathers green, the rest being black with cinnamon inner margins. Female, at 8.5 to 9 cm (3.3 to 3.5 in), has a whitish face with a blackish stripe behind the eye. Her throat, chest and belly are whitish with cinnamon tinges on the sides. The female has a shorter forked tail, the outer feathers of which are reddish with a subterminal black band and white tips. Immatures are similar to females.

分类信息

学名
Doricha eliza
命名信息
(Lesson, RP & Delattre, 1839)
Apodiformes
Trochilidae
Doricha

分布与栖息地

It is found only in Mexico where it lives in two disjunct populations, one in the center of Veracruz and the other in the northern coastal area of the Yucatan Peninsula.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, mangroves, rural gardens and urban areas. A specific example of the mangrove habitat is the Petenes mangroves ecoregion in the Yucatán Peninsula.The species is threatened by habitat loss.

迁徙
Resident species

行为

The Mexican sheartail feeds on nectar from flowers and has been seen visiting Ipomoea, Justicia and Helicteres guazumaefolia. It also sometimes consumes small arthropods. In Veracruz, breeding takes place from May onwards and in Yucatán, between August and April. The tiny cup-shaped nest is made of lichens, spiders webs and the seeds of daisy family plants. Two eggs are laid and newly fledged young have been reported from Yucatán in February and March.

保护状况

种群趋势
declining

照片

分布

鸟叫声

其他鸟类

开始您的观鸟之旅

在户外识别鸟类,并在下一次观察时随手查阅鸟类图鉴。