The bronze-tailed comet (''Polyonymus caroli'') is a 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 aro ...

in the "coquettes", tribe

Lesbiini Lesbiini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants). The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for this group as the largest genus, ''L ...

of subfamily

Lesbiinae Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamily, subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two Tribe (biology), tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coqu ...

. 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 elsew ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The bronze-tailed comet is the only member of its genus and has no subspecies. However, at one time the grey-bellied comet (''Taphrolesbia griseiventris'') was also placed in ''Polyonymus''.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 31 January 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved February 1, 2022

Description

The bronze-tailed comet is long and weighs about . Adult males have dark bronzy green upperparts. Their tail is somewhat long and deeply forked and its central feathers are bronzy green. The upper surface of the other tail feathers are steel blue or purplish becoming bronze at the ends; their undersides are entirely steel blue. They have a white spot behind the eye. The

gorget A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the thro ...

is large and rosy violet to rosy purple, and the rest of the underparts are bronze green. Adult females are similar to the males but duller. Their gorget is smaller and more orange and the tail shorter and less deeply forked. The belly is grayish with green speckles.Schulenberg, T. S. and C. W. Sedgwick (2020). Bronze-tailed Comet (''Polyonymus caroli''), 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.brtcom1.01 retrieved February 19, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The bronze-tailed comet is found on the Pacific slope and dry valleys of the Peruvian Andes from the

Department of Cajamarca Cajamarca (; qu, Kashamarka; ay, Qajamarka) is a department and region in Peru. The capital is the city of Cajamarca. It is located in the north part of the country and shares a border with Ecuador. The city has an elevation of above sea le ...

south into the

Department of Arequipa Arequipa ( ay, Ariqipa; qu, Ariqipa) is a department and region in southwestern Peru. It is the sixth largest department in Peru, after Puno, Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto, its sixth most populous department, and its eleventh least ...

. It inhabits arid to semi-arid montane scrublands and small montane woods. In elevation it ranges from .

Behavior

Movement

The bronze-tailed comet is sedentary.

Feeding

The bronze-tailed comet's diet is not known in detail, though it is known to be mostly insectivorous and also eats 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 ...

s. It forages at all heights but mostly near the ground.

Breeding

The bronze-tailed comet's breeding season appears to include at least November and December but little else is known about the species' breeding

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

. Its nest has not been described.

Vocalization

The bronze-tailed comet's apparent song is "a short trill that rises in pitch and then descends". While foraging it makes ""a dry, rapid chatter: ''tcht'' or ''tchtcht''.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the bronze-tailed comet as being of Least Concern. Though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. It is uncommon, but "occupies areas in the Andes that have been settled by humans for thousands of years, and at least in the short term seems to be little affected by human activities."

References

External links

Image of bronze-tailed comet - Polyonymus caroli
{{Taxonbar, from=Q849989 bronze-tailed comet Birds of the Peruvian Andes Endemic birds of Peru bronze-tailed comet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot