The Tumbes hummingbird (''Thaumasius baeri'') 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

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 ...

and

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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

This species 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 Tumbes hummingbird and the

spot-throated hummingbird The spot-throated hummingbird (''Thaumasius taczanowskii'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Peru but there are uncorroborated sightings in Ecuador.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. ...

(''Taphrospilus hypostictus'') were 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 ...

''. 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. ...

'' retains it in ''Leucippus''.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, 2021Remsen, 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, 2022 The Tumbes 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 Tumbes hummingbird is long and weighs about . The sexes are essentially alike. They have a nearly straight black bill. Their upperparts are pale golden green and their underparts pale grayish that becomes white on the belly. The tail feathers are pale green; the inner ones have bronzy tips and the outer ones a dusky gray band near the end and tips that are whitish in the male and grayish in the female.Schulenberg, T. S. and C. W. Sedgwick (2021). Tumbes Hummingbird (''Thaumasius baeri''), 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.tumhum1.01.1 retrieved September 3, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The Tumbes hummingbird is found in southwestern Ecuador's El Oro and Loja provinces and into northwestern Peru as far south as Lambayeque Department. It inhabits arid scrublands and the edges of deciduous forest in the Tumbes ecoregion. In elevation it ranges from sea level to in Ecuador and in Peru.

Behavior

Movement

The Tumbes hummingbird is mostly sedentary though it may make some seasonal movements.

Feeding

The Tumbes hummingbird forages for nectar from the understory to the mid-strata, though details of the flowering plants it favors are lacking. 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 ...

Breeding

The Tumbes hummingbird's 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 ...

and nest have not been described.

Vocalization

The Tumbes hummingbird's song is "a complex series of chips and wheezing electric warbles." Its calls have been described as "a gruff ''dzee'' and chips."

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 Tumbes hummingbird as being of Least Concern, though it has a limited range and its population size and trend are unknown. No immediate threats have been identified. However, because of its restricted range, "it remains potentially vulnerable to any increase in habitat loss, degradation, or fragmentation."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1264730 Tumbes hummingbird Birds of Tumbes Tumbes hummingbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN