The white-booted racket-tail (''Ocreatus underwoodii'') 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 "brilliants", tribe

Heliantheini Heliantheini is one of the two Tribe (biology), tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae of the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The other tribe in the subfamily is Lesbiini. The informal name "brilliants" has been proposed f ...

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 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 ...

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

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 ...

.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 white-booted racket-tail, as defined by the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

(IOC) and the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...

, has five subspecies. They both include two more species in genus ''Ocreatus'', the

Peruvian racket-tail The Peruvian racket-tail (''Ocreatus peruanus'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the Wo ...

(''O. peruanus'') and the Rufous-booted racket-tail (''O. addae''). 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 ...

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) assigns the name "booted racket-tail" to ''O. underwoodii'' and includes those two taxa as subspecies of it. HBW also includes an eighth subspecies, ''O. u. annae''.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022 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 ...

(SACC) follows the eight-subspecies model but has requested a proposal to elevate ''puruanus'', ''addae'', and ''annae'' to species status.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, 2022 The five subspecies recognized by the IOC are: *''O. u. polystictus'' Todd (1942) *''O. u. discifer''

Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–1883) ...

(1863) *''O. u. underwoodii''

Lesson A lesson or class is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one ...

(1832) *''O. u. incommodus'' Kleinschmidt (1943) *''O. u. melanantherus''

Jardine Jardine is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Al Jardine (born 1942), member of the Beach Boys * Alexander Jardine (British Army officer) (died 1799), Scottish army officer and author * Alexander Jardine (Medal of Honor) (1874– ...

(1851) White-booted racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii melanantherus) male in flight Paz de las Aves.jpg, male ''O. u. melanantherus'', Ecuador White-booted racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii melanantherus) female in flight Paz de las Aves.jpg, female ''O. u. melanantherus'', Ecuador

Description

All racket-tails have pronounced

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

. Only the male has elongated outer rectrices (tail feathers). These tail feathers have bare shafts with long terminal oval flags. In all five subspecies of white-booted racket-tail those feathers are straight and do not cross; the flags slightly overlap. Both sexes of all have greenish upperparts without a glittering forehead, and all have white leg puffs. Males have a greenish gray throat and a solid green belly. Male white-booted racket-tails are long including the long outer tail feathers, and weigh . Females are long and weigh .Schuchmann, K.L. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Booted Racket-tail (''Ocreatus underwoodii''), 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.bortai1.01 retrieved 4 May 2022 The subspecies of male white-booted racket-tails differ in the color and shape of the tail flags; females differ in the pattern of green spots on their white throat and belly. These differences are: *''O. u. polystictus'' (male) bluish black oval flags, (female) heavily spotted *''O. u. discifer'' (male) bluish to turquoise-black oval flags, (female) medium density of fine spots *''O. u. underwoodii'' (male) bluish to turquoise-black oval flags, (female) medium spotted *''O. u. incommodus'' (male) bluish black oval flags, (female) medium to scarcely spotted *''O. u. melanantherus'' (male) bluish black oval to round flags, (female) unspotted

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of white-booted racket-tail are found thus: *''O. u. polystictus'', the

Venezuelan Coastal Range The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System (), is a mountain range system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the central and eastern portions of Venezuela's northern coa ...

between

Carabobo Carabobo State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The state capital city is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state's area is and ...

and Miranda states *''O. u. discifer'', northwestern Venezuela and adjoining northern Colombia *''O. u. underwoodii'', Colombia's Eastern Andes *''O. u. incommodus'', Colombia's Central and Western Andes *''O. u. melanantherus'', the Andean Pacific slope from Colombia's

Nariño Department Nariño () is a department of Colombia named after independence leader Antonio Nariño. Its capital is Pasto. It is in the west of the country, bordering Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean. Nariño has a diverse geography and varied climate acc ...

to southwestern Ecuador The white-booted racket-tail inhabits the temperate and subtropical Andes. It favors the edges of humid to wet forest but is also found in the forest interior and in more open

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 ...

. It is most numerous at elevations between but is found as low as and as high as .

Behavior

Movement

The white-booted racket-tail makes seasonal elevational movements after breeding.

Feeding

The white-booted racket-tail typically forages between above the ground. It takes nectar from a variety of plants such as those of genera ''Palicourea'', ''Clusia'', ''Inga'', and ''Cavendishia''. Often several birds will feed close together. In addition to feeding on nectar it captures small insects by hawking from a perch.

Breeding

The white-booted racket-tail breeds at least between January and April in Colombia but probably breeds at any time during the year. It makes a tiny cup nest of plant fiber and lichen, typically on a horizontal twig above the ground. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for 16 to 17 days; fledging occurs 19 to 22 days after hatch.

Vocalization

Both male and female white-booted racket-tails give "a diagnostic, descending, thin sweet trill, 'ti-tlee-ee-ee' ndsingle 'tsit' and 'trrt' 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 ...

follows HBW taxonomy and so recognizes only one species of ''Ocreatus'' as the booted racket-tail. It has assessed the species as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats are known. It is a very common species and occurs in several protected areas.

References

External links

* BirdLife International.
Birds of Ecuador.
University of Texas Astronomy.

VIREO. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1077059 white-booted racket-tail Birds of the Northern Andes white-booted racket-tail Taxa named by René Lesson