The shining sunbeam (''Aglaeactis cupripennis'') 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 ar ...

in the "brilliants", tribe

Heliantheini Heliantheini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe in the subfamily is Lesbiini. The informal name "brilliants" has been proposed for this group as it includes the ge ...

in subfamily

Lesbiinae Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coquettes") containing 18 genera. Phylogeny A mol ...

. It is found in Colombia,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

, and

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 27 May 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The shining sunbeam currently (early 2022) has two recognized subspecies, the nominate ''A. c. cupripennis'' and ''A. c. caumatonota''. In the past the species had been subdivided into as many as six subspecies. In addition, what is now the

purple-backed sunbeam The purple-backed sunbeam (''Aglaeactis aliciae'') is a bird species in the family Trochilidae. It is found only in Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss. ...

(''A. aliciae'') has also been treated as a subspecies of shining sunbeam.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, 2022Schuchmann, K.L. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Shining Sunbeam (''Aglaeactis cupripennis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.shisun1.01 retrieved April 23, 2022 Shining Sunbeam JCB

Description

The shining sunbeam is long. Males weigh and females . Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill. Unique among sunbeams, neither sex has any white plumage. Males of the nominate subspecies have a dark brown crown and upper back; their lower back and rump are lilac-gold becoming silvery green on the 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 ...

. Their tail feathers are dark brown to rufous, usually with bronzy edges. Their throat is rufous dotted with dusky gray, the breast a patchy buff, and the belly reddish brown. From north to south, the male's underparts become brighter, the crown darker, and the tail redder. Females are similar to the males but the gold and green of the lower back and rump are duller or absent. ''A. c. caumatonota'' differs from the nominate with an iridescent amethyst rump and purplish amethyst uppertail coverts.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of shining sunbeam is found in all three Andean ranges of Colombia and south from there through Ecuador to Peru's departments of La Libertad and

Huánuco Huánuco (; qu, Wanuku) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Hu� ...

. ''A. c. caumatonota'' is found in Peru from the nominate's range south to the departments of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

and

Cuzco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...

. The species inhabits sub-''

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrowe ...

'' to ''páramo'', landscapes characterized by grasslands with scattered shrubs and trees. It also inhabits

cloudforest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...

and semi-arid ridges with a few trees. In elevation it ranges from .

Behavior

Movement

In Colombia at least, the shining sunbeam makes seasonal elevational movements.

Feeding

The shining sunbeam forages for nectar at all levels from the ground to treetops. It feeds at a wide variety of

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa ...

s, vines, and trees including ''

Embothrium ''Embothrium'' is a genus of two to eight species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) in the plant family Proteaceae, native to southern South America, in Chile and adjacent western Argentina; the genus occurs as far south as Tierra del Fuego ...

Puya Puya may refer to: * ''Puya'' (plant), in the family Bromeliaceae * Puya (river), in Russia * Puya, a variety of Guajillo chili * ''Puya'' (Meitei texts), traditional or mythological texts of the Meetei people * ''Culoepuya The ''culo'e puya'' dr ...

,'' and ''

Fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, ''Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic ...

'', and males defend patches of flowering plants. The species also feeds on 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 by hawking.

Breeding

The shining sunbeam's breeding seasons differ throughout its range, from March to September in Colombia, between February and April in Ecuador, and in (and possibly between) November and April in Peru. It builds a compact cup nest of moss and cobweb lined with soft plant fibers and sometimes decorated on the outside with bark or lichen. It is placed on a branch or epiphyte, usually above ground but sometimes as high as . The female alone incubates the clutch of two white eggs for 16 to 18 days; fledging occurs 24 to 27 days after hatch.

Vocalization

The shining sunbeam's song is "high-pitched chirping notes, 'tsip...chew...chew...tseep.....tsip..chew...'". Its calls include "single upslurred 'suweet' notes and single high-pitched 'see' notes."

Status

The IUCN has assessed the shining sunbeam as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. It is generally fairly common, occurs in a wide range of habitats, and is found in several protected areas.