The chestnut-bellied hummingbird (''Saucerottia castaneiventris'') is a

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

species of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird was formerly placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Amazilia ''Amazilia'' is a hummingbird genus in the subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in tropical Central America, Central and South America. Taxonomy The genus ''Amazilia'' was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson. Lesson had us ...

''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2014 found that the genus ''Amazilia'' was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. In the revised classification to create

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genera, the chestnut-bellied hummingbird was moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus ''

Saucerottia ''Saucerottia'' is a genus of birds in the family (biology), family Trochilidae, or hummingbirds. Species The species now placed in this genus were formerly placed in ''Amazilia''. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the ...

''.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021 However,

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

's ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'' (HBW) retains it in ''Amazilia''. The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is about long. Both sexes have a black bill with a red base to the

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

. The adult male has bronze-green upperparts and a chestnut tail. Its throat and upper breast are glittering green, the belly chestnut, and the undertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

chestnut with greenish edges. The female is similar but with a slightly paler belly and white bars near the end of some throat feathers. Immatures are similar to the female with rufous edges on the feathers of the neck and rump.

Distribution and habitat

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird appears to be restricted to the dryer parts of the

Magdalena Valley The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

of Colombia, with a core known range in the Chicamocha,

Suárez Suárez is a common Spanish surname of Germanic origin, of which Juárez (surname), Juárez is an alternative form. It is widely spread throughout Latin America as a consequence of colonization. In origin it is a Patronymic surname, patronymic me ...

and Chucurí River valleys. As of 2019 it was known from at least 14 sites. However, it is not regularly documented at most of them, perhaps because of unknown seasonal movements. Most records are from arid brushy canyons with a few from the lower edges of humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

. Most records are from elevations between but some extend to between and one is at .

Behavior

Movement

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is believed to move from higher to lower elevations after the breeding season.

Feeding

Details are lacking about the chestnut-bellied hummingbird's feeding technique and diet, but it is known to take nectar from ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with just under 1,000 species of shrubs, Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Perennial plant, perennials, and Annual plant, annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part o ...

'' and '' Trichanthera''. It also feeds on small

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

Breeding

Specimens of chestnut-bellied hummingbird in breeding condition suggest that its breeding season is from August to December. Nothing else is known about its breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

and its nest has not been described.

Vocalization

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird's song is "a short rhythmic phrase of three squeaky notes that sounds like a rusty door-hinge, 'krey-ki-cheep ... tsew ... krey-ki-cheep ...'." It also makes calls described as " a slightly buzzy 'tzee', a high-pitched 'see' and a stuttering high-pitched chattering."

Status and threats

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

originally assessed the chestnut-bellied hummingbird as Threatened, then in 1994 Endangered, in 2000 Critically Endangered, in 2009 again Endangered, and since 2019 as Near Threatened. Its population is estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000 mature individuals and believed to be decreasing. The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is located in the dense population region of Colombia. In the twenty-first century there has been expansive economic growth, due to a gold rush in 1996 and also increasing logging. Not only are the forests being cut down, but also sugar and coffee plantations are replacing them. Decreased habitats and increased pollution and human migration accompanied these new industries. Although these businesses are benefitting the Colombian economy, they are by far the largest threats to the habitat of the species.

References

External links

*Cortes-Herrera, O., A. Hernandez-Jaramillo, and E. Briceno-Buitrago. "Rediscovery of the Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird, an Endangered Endemic from Colombia." Web of Science. Springer, Aug. 2006. Web. 24 Oct. 2013

{{Taxonbar, from=Q790679 Saucerottia, chestnut-bellied hummingbird Birds of the Colombian Andes Endemic birds of Colombia Hummingbird species of South America

chestnut-bellied hummingbird The chestnut-bellied hummingbird (''Saucerottia castaneiventris'') is a Near-threatened species, Near Threatened species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Colombia. Taxonomy and system ...

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN