The dusky hummingbird (''Phaeoptila sordida'') is a 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 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The dusky hummingbird was formerly placed in the genus '' Cynanthus''. Based on 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 and a 2017 publication, the North American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

, 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 ...

(IOC), 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 ...

moved it to the resurrected genus ''Phaeoptila'' that had been introduced in 1861 by

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...

.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 However, as of 2020

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 ...

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) retained it in ''Cynanthus''. The dusky hummingbird is the only species in genus ''Phaeoptila'' and has no subspecies.

Description

The dusky hummingbird is long. Males weigh about and females about . Males have a bright red bill with a black tip. Their upperparts are bronze green to greenish bronze that is more brownish or grayish on the crown and 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 ...

. The tail is dull greenish bronze or grayish brown with a greenish gloss and dusky feather bases. It has a grayish streak behind the eye and dusky cheeks. It does not have an iridescent

gorget A gorget ( ; ) was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the English medieval clothing, medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon (headgear), chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather Collar (c ...

like most other hummingbirds, but a deep gray throat with greenish flecks. Its underparts are slightly lighter gray down to the undertail coverts, which are buffy. It has white leg tufts. The female is much like the male. However, its bill is a duller red with a dark tip, its outer tail feathers have a blackish blue band near the end and brownish-gray tips, and its underparts are a paler gray.Arizmendi, M. d. C., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, and T. S. Schulenberg (2021). Dusky Hummingbird (''Phaeoptila sordida''), 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.dushum1.01.1 retrieved July 29, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The dusky hummingbird is found in southwestern Mexico from

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

and

Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

. It inhabits arid scrub and other semi-open to open landscapes with some trees. In elevation it ranges between .

Behavior

Movement

The movement patterns of the dusky hummingbird, if any, have not been described.

Feeding

The dusky hummingbird forages for nectar in the mid- to upper levels of trees. It also feeds on the flowers of a variety of columnar cacti and

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

. It spreads and wags its tail while feeding. In addition to nectar 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

Dusky hummingbirds have been observed breeding in March, May, August, November, and December. The nest is a small cup of plant fibers lined with soft plant down and covered with leaf and bark bits. Three were noted between above the ground in shrubs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

What is thought to be the dusky hummingbird's song is "a quiet, dry, chippering warble". It makes "dry, slightly buzzy chips" and a chattering call that is described as similar to that of the

broad-billed hummingbird The broad-billed hummingbird (''Cynanthus latirostris'') is a small-sized hummingbird that resides in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Males and females have different features (see sexual dimorphism). The juveniles resemble the female ...

(''Cynanthus latirostris'') but "softer and more liquid or spluttering".

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 dusky hummingbird as being of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

. It has a fairly large range and a population of at least 50,000 mature individuals that is believed to be stable. No specific threats have been identified.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1259066 dusky hummingbird Birds of Mexico Endemic birds of Mexico dusky hummingbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN Balsas dry forests