The coppery-headed emerald (''Microchera cupreiceps'') is a small
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 ...
to
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
.
[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 (''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 th ...
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:
The white-tailed emerald and the coppery-headed emerald were formerly placed in the genus ''Elvira''. A molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogene ...
''.
The
International Ornithological Committee
The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...
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 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. ...
'' 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 "unisp ...
.[
]
Description
The coppery-headed emerald is about long and weighs about . Both sexes have a moderately decurved bill whose 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 ...
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 cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail.
Ear coverts
The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...
. 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 comp ...
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 lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...
. 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 large herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs or shrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. It includes 176 species native to tropical southern Mexico, Central America, South America, and the West Indies.
The closely ...
'', ''Cavendishia
''Cavendishia'' is a genus of about 100 species of woody perennial plants, many of which are epiphyte, epiphytic. The genus is native to tropical South America and Central America.
Species
References
Germplasm Resources Information Netwo ...
'', ''Clusia
''Clusia'' is the type genus of the plant family Clusiaceae. Comprising 300-400 species, it is native to the Neotropics. The genus is named by Carl Linnaeus in honor of the botanist Carolus Clusius.
Taxonomy
The closest relatives of ''Clu ...
'', ''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 b ...
'', ''Pithecellobium
''Pithecellobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes approximately 23 species from the tropical Americas, ranging from Mexico to Peru and northern Brazil, including the Caribbean Islands and Florida.
The generic ...
'', ''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 fu ...
'', ''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 l ...
''. In addition to nectar, it gleans 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 ...
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
Lek or LEK may refer to:
* Lek mating, of animals
* Albanian lek, currency
* Lek (magazine), Norway
* Lek (pharmaceutical company), now part of Sandoz
* Lek (river), Netherlands
* De Lek, Netherlands fiefdom
* L.E.K. Consulting, firm
* Leung ...
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
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 ...
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 Cantons of Costa Rica, canton of the Puntarenas Province, Puntarenas Provinces of Costa Rica, province of Costa Rica, located in the Cordillera de Tilarán (Tilarán range). Roughly a four-hour drive from the Costa Rica ...
Coppery-headed emerald (Elvira cupreiceps) male in flight.jpg, Male in Cinchona
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261883
coppery-headed emerald
Endemic birds of the Talamancan montane forests
Endemic birds of Costa Rica
coppery-headed emerald
coppery-headed emerald
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN