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

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

species of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics ar ...

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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to Colombia.

Taxonomy and systematics

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird was formerly placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

'' Amazilia''. 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 of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

. In the revised classification to create

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...

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

'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 "unispec ...

Description

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

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bon ...

. 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, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

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.Weller, A.A., P. F. D. Boesman, and C. J. Sharpe (2021). Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird (''Saucerottia castaneiventris''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.chbhum1.01.1 retrieved September 7, 2022

Distribution and habitat

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

Magdalena Valley The Magdalena River Valley ( es, Valle del Río Magdalena) is a valley in Colombia located within the Colombian Andes. The valley is specifically situated between the Central and Eastern Ranges and crossed by the river of the same name, the Magdal ...

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

Suárez Suárez is a common Spanish surname, widely spread throughout Latin America as a consequence of colonization. In origin it is a patronymic meaning "son of Suero" or "son of Soeiro". It is derived from the Latin name Suerius, meaning "Sugarman". ...

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 fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

. 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 nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoide ...

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

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

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 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 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN