The sombre hummingbird (''Eupetomena cirrochloris'') 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 aro ...

in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Brazil.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 sombre hummingbird was formerly placed in the genus ''Aphantochroa'' which was itself sometimes merged into ''

Campylopterus The sabrewings are relatively large Neotropical hummingbirds that form the genus ''Campylopterus''. They are species of the understory and edges of forests, mostly in mountains, and often near streams. The female Sabrewing lays its two white eggs ...

''. Based primarily 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, ''Aphantochroa'' was merged by most taxonomic systems into ''Eupetomena''.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,

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. T ...

'' retains it in ''Aphantochroa''. The sombre hummingbird is monotypic.

Description

The sombre hummingbird is about long and weighs about . The sexes are assentially the same though the female is slightly smaller than the male. The have a slightly decurved black bill. Their upperparts are bronzy green to blackish bronzy green with a coppery sheen to 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 sm ...

. Their underparts are dull gray with a few dull green spots on the throat. Their tail is square; its central feathers are shiny green and the rest black with a bronzy gloss.Züchner, T. and G. M. Kirwan (2021). Sombre Hummingbird (''Eupetomena cirrochloris''), version 1.1. 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.somhum1.01.1 retrieved September 4, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The sombre hummingbird is found in eastern Brazil from Pernambuco south into

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

and west as far as

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...

. It inhabits the edges and understory of humid

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

, plantations, and gardens. The core of its habitat is the

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

but it also occurs in the transition zone between cerrado and caatinga biomes.

Behavior

Movement

The sombre hummingbird is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The sombre hummingbird forages for nectar at a variety of flowering plants including introduced '' Eucalyptus''. It does so from the understory to as high as above the ground. It is highly territorial and spends half its time aggressively defending flower patches from hummingbirds of its own and other species. In addition to nectar it feeds on arthropods captured by

hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist *Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Haw ...

from a perch.

Breeding

The sombre hummingbird's breeding season extends from November to March. It builds a cup nest of soft plant material with large lichen pieces on the outside. It typically places it like a saddle on a horizontal branch. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for 15 to 16 days and fledging occurs about 28 days after hatch.

Vocalization

The somber hummingbird's song is "a high-pitched 'tchui-ui', often repeated and sometimes doubled". It is typically sung at dawn and often during

agonistic An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the agoni ...

encounters. It gives at least six distinct calls described as "chirp", "guttural", "vibrato", "whistle", "crack", and "high-pitch".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the sombre hummingbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, but its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. Except in the far south of its range it is considered locally common to common and it occurs in several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q31774 sombre hummingbird Birds of the Atlantic Forest Birds of Brazil Endemic birds of Brazil Hummingbird species of South America sombre hummingbird Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN