Mangrove hummingbird
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Amazilia
Species:
A. boucardi
Binomial name
Amazilia boucardi
(Mulsant, 1877)
Range
Synonyms[3]

Polyerata boucardi

The mangrove hummingbird (Amazilia boucardi) is an Endangered species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Costa Rica.

Taxonomy

The mangrove hummingbird was formally described in 1877 by the French ornithologist Étienne Mulsant from a specimen collected by Adolphe Boucard near Puntarenas in Costa Rica. Mulsant placed the new species in the genus Arena and coined the binomial name Arena boucardi.[4] The mangrove hummingbird is now placed in the genus Amazilia that was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson.[5][6] The genus name comes from the Inca heroine in Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas, ou la destruction de l'Empire du Pérou. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the collector Boucard.[7] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[6]

Description

The mangrove hummingbird is 9.5 to 11 cm (3.7 to 4.3 in) long and weighs about 4.5 g (0.16 oz). Both sexes have a medium length bill, slightly decurved, with a black maxilla and a reddish mandible with a dusky tip. Adult males have golden to bronze-green upperparts and flanks. Their chin, throat, and breast are glittering bluish green with white bars near the end of the chin feathers. Their belly is whitish with bronze-green sides and their undertail coverts are white. The slightly forked tail is bronzy green; the outer feathers have blackish outer edges and tips. Adult females are similar to males, but with less green on the underparts and grayish tips on the outermost tail feathers. Immature birds resemble adult females but are more grayish below.[8]

One form of vocalization has been described in words as a "soft djt sound that is rapid and given in a descending twitter."[8]

Distribution and habitat

The mangrove hummingbird is sedentary. It is found only on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It inhabits large stands of tea mangrove Pelliciera rhizophorae and sometimes adjacent terrestrial second growth. Its distribution is not continuous.[8]

Behavior

Feeding

The mangrove hummingbird forages for nectar, primarily at mangrove flowers. It has also been observed feeding at Inga, Heliconia, and Maripa in a terrestrial forest clearing near mangroves. In addition to nectar it feeds on insects.[8]

Breeding

The mangrove hummingbird's breeding season spans from October to February. It builds a cup nest of balsa (Ochroma pyramidale) floss and other soft plant fibers bound with spiderweb and with lichens on the outside. It is usually placed on a mangrove twig between 1 and 4 m (3 and 10 ft) above the water. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs, but the incubation period and time to fledging are not known.[8]

Status

The IUCN originally assessed the mangrove hummingbird as Threatened, then in 1994 as Vulnerable, and since 2000 as Endangered. It has a restricted range and habitat requirements. Its estimated population of between 1500 and 7000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Its mangrove habitat is continuing to be destroyed for salt evaporation, shrimp farming, charcoal production, and human habitation. Though cutting mangroves is illegal in Costa Rica, the law is widely ignored. Road and dike construction has affected some areas by altering their hydrology. Pollution, especially from Puntarenas on the Golfo de Nicoya, has also degraded mangrove stands. The species' habitat is protected in a few small reserves.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2020). "Mangrove Hummingbird Amazilia boucardi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22687562A168615870. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22687562A168615870.en. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ↑ Clements, James F. (2007). The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World (6 ed.). Cornell Univ. Press.
  4. ↑ Mulsant, Étienne (1877). Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches ou colibris constituant la famille des trouchilidés (in French). Vol. 4. Paris: Deyrolle, Naturaliste. pp. 6, 194-196.
  5. ↑ Lesson, René (1843). "Ornithologie: Complément à l'histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches". L'Echo Du Monde Savant (in French). Part 2 (32). Col. 755–758 (757).
  6. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  7. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 43, 75. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Luther, D. (2020). Mangrove Hummingbird (Amazilia boucardi), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.manhum1.01 retrieved September 10, 2022
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