From Opus

Revision as of 01:11, 9 October 2010

Selasphorus flammula

Male. Photo by Gary Clark
Location: Quetzal NP, Costa Rica.

Photo by Greg Lavaty
Costa Rica, January 2009

Identification

7.5cm. Bronze-green upperparts, white underparts, rufous-edged black outer tail feathers. The flaring gorget is different according to the range; each is a subspecies. It is grey-purple in the Talamanca range, red in the Poas-Barva mountains and pink-purple in the Irazú-Turrialba area. The female is similar, but her throat is white with dusky spots. Young birds resemble the female but have buff fringes to the upperpart plumage.

Similar Species

Scintillant Hummingbird - the male is distiguishable by the orange gorget, but the female is almost identical. Look for a shorter section of rufous and brighter white tips on the Volcano's rectrices. The Volcano occurs at higher elevations, but in an area of range overlap, distinguishing the females can be very difficult in the field.

Distribution

Costa Rica and Panama

Female. Photo by Gary Clark
Location: Quetzal NP, Costa Rica.

Taxonomy

Three subspecies are recognized for this species: flammula, simoni, and torridus. The subspecies simoni, differing in having a red gorget in the male, has in the past been considered a full species: Cerise-throated Hummingbird.

Habitat

Found 1800 meters or higher in elevation in Paramo habitat, brushland, in gardens and clearings.

Behaviour

The female builds a cup shaped nest from plant down high in a scrub or on a root below a south or east facing bank. 2 white eggs are laid and the female incubaties them for 15-19 days; the young fledge after another 20-26 days.

The diet includes nectar, taken from a variety of small flowers, including Salvia and Fuchsia, and species normally pollinated by insects. It also takes some small insects.

External Links