The coppery-headed emerald (''Microchera cupreiceps'') is a small
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
Costa Rica.
[HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022]
Taxonomy and systematics
The coppery-headed emerald was formerly placed with the
white-tailed emerald
The white-tailed emerald (''Microchera chionura'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of th ...
(''M. chionura'') in the genus ''Elvira''. 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 these two species were closely related to the
snowcap
The snowcap (''Microchera albocoronata'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of ...
in the then-
monospecific
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 "unispe ...
genus ''
Microchera
''Microchera'' is a genus of hummingbirds.
Species
The genus includes three species:
*Snowcap, ''Microchera albocoronata''
* Coppery-headed emerald, ''Microchera cupreiceps''
* White-tailed emerald, ''Microchera chionura''
The white-tailed eme ...
''.
The
International Ornithological Committee
The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...
and the
Clements taxonomy
''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world.
The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...
placed the three species together in ''Microchera'' which has
priority. 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. ...
'' retains them in ''Elvira''.
[Clements, 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][
The coppery-tailed emerald 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 coppery-headed emerald is about long and weighs about . Both sexes have a moderately decurved bill whose 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 ...
has a pinkish base. The adult male has a dull coppery bronze crown, a bronze green nape, back, and rump, and bright coppery bronze uppertail 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 ...
. Its central pair of tail feathers are bronze, the next three pairs white with pale gray tips, and the outermost pair white with black tips. Its underparts are bright yellowish metallic green with white undertail coverts. Males in the far northern Cordillera de Guanacaste
The Cordillera de Guanacaste, also called Guanacaste Cordillera, are a volcanic mountain range in northern Costa Rica near the border with Nicaragua. The mountain range stretches 110 km from northwest to the southeast and contains mostly com ...
also have a purple spot in the center of the breast. The adult female has metallic green upperparts with bright somewhat coppery bronze uppertail coverts. Its central pair of tail feathers are bright bronze, the next three pairs white with a gray or dusky bar near the end, and the outermost pair white with gray or dusky tips. Its underparts are dull white to grayish white that become white at the vent area; there are also metallic green spots along the flanks. The immature male is similar to the adult but duller and has black tips on all tail feathers except the central pair.[Schulenberg, T. S. and C. W. Sedgwick (2021). Coppery-headed Emerald (''Microchera cupreiceps''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.coheme1.01.1 retrieved August 28, 2022]
Distribution and habitat
The coppery-headed emerald is found in the highlands of northern and central Costa Rica. In most of its range it is found on the Caribbean slope but in the far north is also found on the Pacific slope. It inhabits the edges and interior of moist to 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 ...
. In the forest interior males are often found in the canopy and females in the understory but both occur at all levels at the edges and in semi-open areas like clearings. In elevation it ranges from on the Caribbean slope but on the Pacific side is seldom found below about .[
]
Behavior
Movement
Following breeding the coppery-headed emerald moves to the lower parts of its elevational range.[
]
Feeding
The coppery-headed emerald forages for nectar at a wide variety of flowering plants, shrubs, and trees; examples include those of genera ''Besleria
''Besleria'' is a genus of ca. 200 species of large herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs or shrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. They occur in Central America, South America, and the West Indies.
The closely related genus '' Gasterant ...
'', ''Cavendishia
''Cavendishia'' is a genus of about 100 species of woody perennial plants, many of which are epiphytic. The genus is native to tropical South America and Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the ...
'', ''Clusia
''Clusia'' is the type genus of the plant family Clusiaceae. Comprising 300-400 species, it is native to the tropics of the Americas. The genus is named by Carl Linnaeus in honor of the botanist Carolus Clusius.
The closest relatives of ''C ...
'', ''Guarea
''Guarea'' is a genus of evergreen trees or shrubs in the family Meliaceae, native to tropical Africa and Central and South America. At their largest, they are large trees 20–45 m tall, with a trunk over 1 m diameter, often buttressed at the ...
'', ''Pithecellobium
''Pithecellobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek words πίθηκος (''pithêkos''), meaning "ape" or "monkey," and ἐλλόβιον (''ellobion''), meaning "earring," which ...
'', ''Quararibea
''Quararibea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae.
Species include:
*'' Quararibea asterolepis''
*'' Quararibea aurantiocalyx''
*'' Quararibea cordata''
*''Quararibea dolichopoda''
*''Quararibea dolichosiphon''
*''Quararibea ...
'', ''Satyria
''Satyria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the blueberry tribe Vaccinieae, family Ericaceae, native to southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is closely related to ''Cavendishia
''Cavendishia'' is a genus of abo ...
'', and ''Inga
''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s ...
''. In addition to nectar, it gleans 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 from foliage and captures them by hawking from a perch.[
]
Breeding
The coppery-headed emerald's breeding season extends from October to March and may vary within that window from year to year. Males court females at leks
A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an avail ...
in small groups, singing from a perch and chasing other males. Females construct a small cup nest of plant down and tree fern scales bound with spiderweb with some moss and lichen on the outside. It is typically placed between above the ground in the understory or along an edge. The clutch size is two eggs; the incubation period and time to fledging are not known.[
]
Vocalization
The coppery-headed emerald's song is a "high, thin, twittering and warbling." Its call has been described as "a high, thin, liquid quip or quit or rapid high sputtering in chases."[
]
Status
The IUCN has assessed the coppery-headed emerald as being of Least Concern. Its population is estimated to be at least 20,000 mature individuals and stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[ It is considered fairly common and is found in many protected areas.][
]
Gallery
Elvira cupreiceps (female).jpg, Male
Coppery Headed Emerald Female.JPG, Female near Monteverde
Monteverde is the twelfth canton of the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. It is located in the Cordillera de Tilarán mountain range. Roughly a four-hour drive from the Central Valley, Monteverde is one of the country's major ecotourism des ...
Coppery-headed emerald (Elvira cupreiceps) male in flight.jpg, Male in Cinchona
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261883
coppery-headed emerald
Birds of the Talamancan montane forests
Endemic birds of Costa Rica
coppery-headed emerald
coppery-headed emerald
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN