The mangrove hummingbird (''Chrysuronia boucardi'') is an

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

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 ...

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 ...

Taxonomy

The mangrove hummingbird was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

in 1877 by the French ornithologist

Étienne Mulsant Martial Étienne Mulsant (2 March 1797, Marnand, Rhône – 4 November 1880) was a French entomologist and ornithologist. Biography Initially employed in commerce, Mulsant wrote ''Lettres à Julie sur l'entomologie, suivies d'une description mét ...

from a specimen collected by Adolphe Boucard near

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which comprises the Puntarenas, Chacarita and El Roble districts. A ...

in Costa Rica. Mulsant placed the new species in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Arena'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Arena boucardi''. The mangrove hummingbird was formerly placed in the genus ''

Amazilia ''Amazilia'' is a hummingbird genus in the subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in tropical Central America, Central and South America. Taxonomy The genus ''Amazilia'' was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson. Lesson had us ...

''. When a phylogenetic study published in 2024 found the species was most closely related to the sapphire-throated hummingbird (''Chrysuronia coeruleogularis''), the mangrove hummingbird was transferred from ''Amazilia'' to the genus '' Chrysuronia''. The genus name is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the specific names of two

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of the golden-tailed sapphire: ''Ornismya chrysura'' Lesson, R, 1832 and ''Ornismia oenone'' Lesson, 1832. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the collector Boucard. The species 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 ...

: no

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised. Arinia Boucardi

Description

The mangrove hummingbird is long and weighs about . Both sexes have a medium length bill, slightly decurved, with a black

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

and a reddish

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 ...

with a dusky tip. Adult males have golden to bronze-green upperparts and flanks. Their chin, throat, and breast are glittering bluish green with white bars near the end of the chin feathers. Their belly is whitish with bronze-green sides and their undertail

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 ...

are white. The slightly forked tail is bronzy green; the outer feathers have blackish outer edges and tips. Adult females are similar to males, but with less green on the underparts and grayish tips on the outermost tail feathers. Immature birds resemble adult females but are more grayish below.Luther, D. (2020). Mangrove Hummingbird (''Amazilia boucardi''), 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.manhum1.01 retrieved September 10, 2022 One form of vocalization has been described in words as a "soft ''djt'' sound that is rapid and given in a descending twitter."

Distribution and habitat

The mangrove hummingbird is sedentary. It is found only on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It inhabits large stands of tea mangrove ''

Pelliciera rhizophorae ''Pelliciera rhizophorae'', known as the tea mangrove, is a less-common species of mangroves found along the Pacific coast from the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica to the Esmeraldas River in Ecuador, as well as within stands located in Nicaragua, Pa ...

'' and sometimes adjacent terrestrial second growth. Its distribution is not continuous.

Behavior

Feeding

The mangrove hummingbird forages for nectar, primarily at mangrove flowers. It has also been observed feeding at ''

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 ...

'', ''

Heliconia ''Heliconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku (province), ...

'', and '' Maripa'' in a terrestrial forest clearing near mangroves. In addition to nectar it feeds on insects.

Breeding

The mangrove hummingbird's breeding season spans from October to February. It builds a cup nest of

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as balsa, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma'', and is classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the mallow family Malvaceae. The tree is fa ...

(''Ochroma pyramidale'') floss and other soft plant fibers bound with spiderweb and with lichens on the outside. It is usually placed on a mangrove twig between above the water. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs, but the incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

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 ...

originally assessed the mangrove hummingbird as Threatened, then in 1994 as Vulnerable, and since 2000 as Endangered. It has a restricted range and habitat requirements. Its estimated population of between 1500 and 7000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Its mangrove habitat is continuing to be destroyed for salt evaporation, shrimp farming, charcoal production, and human habitation. Though cutting mangroves is illegal in Costa Rica, the law is widely ignored. Road and dike construction has affected some areas by altering their hydrology. Pollution, especially from

on the Golfo de Nicoya, has also degraded mangrove stands. The species' habitat is protected in a few small reserves.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q303120 mangrove hummingbird Endemic birds of Costa Rica mangrove hummingbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Étienne Mulsant