The spot-throated hummingbird (''Thaumasius taczanowskii'') 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 ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

but there are uncorroborated sightings in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

.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 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The spot-throated hummingbird was formerly placed in the genus ''

Leucippus Leucippus (; , ''Leúkippos''; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. He is traditionally credited as the founder of atomism, which he developed with his student Democritus. Leucippus divided the world into two entities: atoms, indivisible ...

''. 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 ''Leucippus'' was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. To resolve the polyphyly the spot-throated hummingbird and the Tumbes hummingbird (''Thaumasius baeri'') were eventually moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus ''

Thaumasius ''Thaumasius'' is a genus in the family of Hummingbirds, and consists of 2 species. Taxonomy and species list These two species were formerly placed in the genus ''Leucippus''. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that ''Leucip ...

''.Clements, J. F., P.C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved October 28, 2023HBW and BirdLife International (2023). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/taxonomy retrieved December 28, 2023 The spot-throated hummingbird 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 spot-throated hummingbird is long and weighs about . The sexes are essentially alike. They have a somewhat decurved black bill, though sometimes the

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 ...

is gray-brown or even yellow with a black tip. Their upperparts are grayish green to bronze green with a bronze 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 ...

. Their inner tail feathers are grayish green to bronze green that progresses to grayish on the outer ones, which also have a bronze band near the end. Their underparts are drab gray with golden green speckles on the chin, throat, and flanks. The undertail coverts have pale brown centers and whitish edges.Schulenberg, T. S. and C. W. Sedgwick (2021). Spot-throated Hummingbird (''Thaumasius taczanowskii''), 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.spthum2.01.1 retrieved July 20, 2024

Distribution and habitat

The spot-throated hummingbird is generally considered to occur only in Peru, on the west slope of the Andes and the Marañon River valley from near the Ecuadorean border south to

Ancash Department Ancash (; ) is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, an ...

. Undocumented sight records in far southern Ecuador lead the South 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 ...

to list it as hypothetical in that country. It inhabits arid scrublands and the edges of deciduous forest. In elevation in the Andes it mostly occurs between but is found locally as low as . In the Marañon valley it occurs between .

Behavior

Movement

The movements of the spot-throated hummingbird, if any, have not been documented.

Feeding

The spot-throated hummingbird forages for nectar from the understory to the mid-strata. Though details of the flowering plants it favors are lacking, it is known to feed 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 ...

'' trees, ''

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 ...

'', and banana (''

Musa Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam province, Iran * Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran * Musa Kalayeh, Gilan province, Iran * Abu M ...

''). In addition to nectar, it 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 ...

s caught on the wing.

Breeding

The spot-throated hummingbird's nest and eggs remained undescribed until 2024. The description's authors examined specimens that had apparently been collected in the late 1800s and preserved in the Natural History Museum of Berlin. The nest is a small cup of plant fibers, seeds, and thin twigs with plant fragments at its base and lined with plant down and other plant material. Photographs of a nest taken in January 2016 show an external covering of lichens. The single 1800s egg was white without other markings. The 2016 photograph includes a female on the nest; a photograph of a nest with two eggs was taken in November 2007. These data indicate a breeding season that includes at least November to January. The incubation period and time to fledging remain unknown.

Vocalization

The spot-throated hummingbird's song is "a complex series of chips and wheezing electric warbles." It also makes "a dry chatter and ''tip'' notes."

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 spot-throated hummingbird as being of Least Concern. It has a fairly large range; its population size is unknown but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered fairly common, and " man activity has little effect on Spot-throated Hummingbird, at least in the short term".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1260889 spot-throated hummingbird Birds of the Peruvian Andes Endemic birds of Peru spot-throated hummingbird spot-throated hummingbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot