Steely-vented Hummingbird
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The steely-vented hummingbird (''Saucerottia saucerottei'') 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 found in
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
and
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
.


Taxonomy and systematics

The steely-vented hummingbird was formerly placed 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 ...
''
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 ...
''. 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 the genus ''Amazilia'' 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 ...
. In the revised classification to create
monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
genera, the steely-vented hummingbird was moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus ''
Saucerottia ''Saucerottia'' is a genus of birds in the family (biology), family Trochilidae, or hummingbirds. Species The species now placed in this genus were formerly placed in ''Amazilia''. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the ...
''.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. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022Clements, 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 i ...
'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. ...
'' (HBW) retains it in ''Amazilia''. Most taxonomic systems assign the steely-vented hummingbird three subspecies, the
nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...
''S. s. saucerottei'', ''S. s. warscewiczi'', and ''S. s. braccata''. HBW includes as a fourth subspecies what the others treat as the separate blue-vented hummingbird (''S. hoffmanni''). In addition, in the late 1800s ''S. s. warscewiczi'' was treated as a separate species with ''S. s. braccata'' as a subspecies.Weller, A.A., P. F. D. Boesman, and H. F. Greeney (2021). Steely-vented Hummingbird (''Saucerottia saucerottei''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.stvhum2.01.1 retrieved September 7, 2022


Description

The steely-vented hummingbird is long and weighs about . Both sexes of all subspecies have a black bill with a pinkish or reddish base to 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 ...
. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have golden-green upperparts with blue-black 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 tail is also blue-black. Their underparts are dark glittering golden-green with greenish to steel blue undertail coverts. Adult females have some white on their throat feathers and grayish-brown undertail coverts. Immature birds somewhat resemble the female but are overall duller and have a partly dark gray throat, a grayish brown belly, and brownish edges to the back and rump feathers. The other two subspecies differ little from the nominate. ''S. s. warscewiczi'' is somewhat smaller and has a purplish to bluish tinge to the uppertail coverts. ''S. s. braccata'' has purplish tips on the rump feathers and violet-blue to bluish uppertail coverts.


Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''S. s. warscewiczi'' of the steely-vented hummingbird is the northernmost. It is found in northern Colombia from
Sucre Department Sucre () is a department in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. The department ranks 27th by area, and it has a population of 904,863, ranking 20th of all the 32 departments of Colombia. Sucre is bordered by the Caribbean on the northwest; by B ...
east into western Zulia state in extreme northwestern Venezuela. The nominate ''S. s. saucerottei'' is found in western and north-central Colombia on the western slope of the Western Andes and in the
Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangué in Bolívar Department, an ...
valley. ''S. s. braccata'' is found in the Andes of western Venezuela in the states of Trujillo and Mérida. (Note that the range map includes that of the Central American blue-vented hummingbird.) The steely-vented hummingbird inhabits semi-open to open landscapes such as scrublands, savanna, the edges of mature forest,
secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...
, plantations, and gardens. Most of them tend to be somewhat arid. In most of its range it is found between sea level and . ''S. s. braccata'' can usually be found up to and rarely as high as .


Behavior


Movement

The steely-vented hummingbird is essentially sedentary but might make local movements in response to availability of flowering plants.


Feeding

Little is known about the steely-vented hummingbird's feeding practices or diet. It is known to forage for nectar at low bushes and trees and is thought to be somewhat territorial.


Breeding

The steely-vented hummingbird apparently breeds at any time of the year in Colombia. Essentially nothing else is known about the species' breeding
phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...
. One nest was described as a simple cup "saddled" on a limb of an isolated tree about above the ground. The eggs, incubation period, and time to fledging have not been described.


Vocalization

The steely-vented hummingbird's song has not been described in words. Its calls have been described as "a high, sharp ''tsit'' or dry ''chit,'' sometimes uttered in sputtering series."


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 ...
follows HBW taxonomy and so has included the blue-vented hummingbird in its assessment of the steely-vented. It has assessed the combined species as being of Least Concern. It has a population of at least 500,000 mature individuals that is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. The steely-vented hummingbird ''
sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...
'' is considered fairly common to common in most of its range and numerous in some habitats, and it occurs in at least one protected area.


References


External links

*


Further reading

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1258923
steely-vented hummingbird The steely-vented hummingbird (''Saucerottia saucerottei'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The steely-vented hummingbir ...
Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Colombia Birds of Venezuela
steely-vented hummingbird The steely-vented hummingbird (''Saucerottia saucerottei'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The steely-vented hummingbir ...
steely-vented hummingbird The steely-vented hummingbird (''Saucerottia saucerottei'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The steely-vented hummingbir ...
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN