Dominican Republic Hummer (1 Viewer)

[steve covey]

Hi all, as promised I'm back with another puzzler from my friends visit to the Dominican Republic. As always I'll jump in with both feet and open myself to ridicule with my best guess first
Could this be a female Hispaniolan Emerald Hummingbird?
TIA,
Steve.
[another coming soon - this time a heron sp.]

 

[Motmot]

Looks to me to be a Mango, Antillean on location, Anthracothorax dominicus , an immature or female

EDIT: on second pic a black stripe down central underparts is visible, making it an immature male according to Raffaele´s "Birds of the West Indies"

 

[humminbird]

My immediate impression was also Mango.

 

[Birdingcraft]

Yes, I am in agreement with Motmot and hummingbird; certainly an Antillean Mango. Note the decurved bill and maroon color on the tail. Female Hisp. Emerald is a very "plain-looking" Hummingbird, basically light-colored below and dull green above with small white tips to the recs. BTW, always nice to have photos of imm. Anthracothorax sp.

 

[steve covey]

Yes, I am in agreement with Motmot and hummingbird; certainly an Antillean Mango. Note the decurved bill and maroon color on the tail. Female Hisp. Emerald is a very "plain-looking" Hummingbird, basically light-colored below and dull green above with small white tips to the recs. BTW, always nice to have photos of imm. Anthracothorax sp.

Many thanks everyone for your detailed replies. Not knowing anything about the taxonomy of these birds, are Mango's [and woodstars etc] different to 'ordinary' hummingbirds or are the names just arbitrary?
Cheers,
Steve.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Hi Steve,

Hummingbirds are a huge family of more than 300 species divided into a hundred or more genera. There's not really such a thing as an ordinary hummingbird, as some are called Hummingbirds, some Mangos, some Woodstars, some Sunbeams, some Sunangels etc etc, in a similar way to the (admittedly smaller but equally variable) Crow family, with its Crows, Ravens, Magpies, Jays, Jackdaws, Treepies etc.

So the same last common name appears in different genera in the hummingbird family (eg the rather different Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Sword-billed Hummingbird) just as it does in the crow family (eg the rather different Common Magpie and Azure-winged Magpie).............And some birds in the same genus have different last names in the hummers (eg Blue-chinned Sapphire and Cuban Emerald, in the same way as they do in the crow family (eg Carrion Crow and Brown-necked Raven).

..er .. that's how I understand it anyway !:eek!:

hope that's of some help

 

[steve covey]

Hi Steve,

Hummingbirds are a huge family of more than 300 species divided into a hundred or more genera. There's not really such a thing as an ordinary hummingbird, as some are called Hummingbirds, some Mangos, some Woodstars, some Sunbeams, some Sunangels etc etc, in a similar way to the (admittedly smaller but equally variable) Crow family, with its Crows, Ravens, Magpies, Jays, Jackdaws, Treepies etc.

So the same last common name appears in different genera in the hummingbird family (eg the rather different Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Sword-billed Hummingbird) just as it does in the crow family (eg the rather different Common Magpie and Azure-winged Magpie).............And some birds in the same genus have different last names in the hummers (eg Blue-chinned Sapphire and Cuban Emerald, in the same way as they do in the crow family (eg Carrion Crow and Brown-necked Raven).

..er .. that's how I understand it anyway !:eek!:

hope that's of some help

Hi Larry, that's great, thanks. I suspected that might be the case but as we don't get many hummers in UK it's not something one thinks about too much. Although the number of times I get a call from joe public saying they have a hummingbird in their garden when it's a Hummingbird Hawkmoth....!
Cheers,
Steve.