Violet-throated Metaltail

Metallura baroni

High-elevation hummingbird endemic to the Andes of southern Ecuador. Plumage is mostly green with a purple throat, and tail is blue on top and greenish underneath. Bill is short and straight. Female has underparts scaled with gray or buff. Compared to the common and widespread Tyrian Metaltail, Violet-throated lacks a rusty tail and has a purple (not green or buffy) throat. Inhabits montane scrub and edge of stunted forest. Most sightings come from in and around Cajas National Park.

识别特征

The violet-throated metaltail is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long. Males weigh 4.3 to 4.5 g (0.15 to 0.16 oz) and females 3.9 to 5 g (0.14 to 0.18 oz). It has a medium length, straight, black bill. The adult male has dark olive green upper- and underparts. Its gorget is purple-violet. Its slightly forked tail is iridescent violaceous sky blue on its upper side and glittering yellow-green on its underside. The adult female's upperparts are also dark olive green. Its throat is a duller version of the male's and its breast, and belly are whitish gray spotted with olive green. Its outer tail feathers have whitish tips on their underside. Juveniles are similar to adult females.

分类信息

The violet-throated metaltail is monotypic. At one time it was treated as a subspecies of what is now the fiery-throated metaltail (Metallura odomae). The species name commemorates the collector Oscar Theodor Brown.

学名
Metallura baroni
命名信息
Salvin, 1893
Apodiformes
Trochilidae
Metallura

分布与栖息地

The violet-throated metaltail is found only on the Cajas Plateau west of the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. The plateau straddles the border of Azuay and Cañar provinces. It inhabits the edges of elfin forest and Polylepis woodlands and adjacent páramo grasslands. Its favored landscape is characterized by boulders with a cover of bromeliads, Ericaceae, and ferns and mosses. In elevation it normally ranges between 3,000 and 3,900 m (9,800 and 12,800 ft) but was once reported as low as 1,900 m (6,200 ft).

迁徙
Resident species

行为

The violet-throated metaltail's movements, if any, have not been documented, but some seasonal elevational movement is thought possible.<p>The violet-throated metaltail forages for nectar by hovering; it feeds on a variety of flowering vegetation at any level of its habitat. Males defend feeding territories.<p>The violet-throated metaltail is thought to nest between November and February. One nest was described as resembling a slipper without a heel; it was made of moss, twigs, and wool. The female incubates the clutch of two white eggs; the incubation and nestling periods are not known.<p>A violet-throated metaltail vocalization has been described as "a descending series of 3–5 squeaky notes, followed by several jumbled ones, 'trsee-seee-seee-sew..trr-tsee-tse-tsew..trr-tsee-tse-tsew'." It is thought to be either a song or a chasing call.

保护状况

种群趋势
declining

照片

分布

鸟叫声

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。