Amazilia hummingbird

Appearance

The amazilia hummingbird is 9 to 11 cm long. Males weigh 5 to 6.5 g and females 4.5 to 5.5 g. Both sexes of all subspecies have a straight, medium length, pinkish-red bill with a black tip. Adult males of the nominate subspecies "A. a. amazilia" have golden-green upperparts with rufous uppertail coverts. Their tail is also mostly rufous, with some bronze-green on the outer feathers. They have a glittering golden- to turquoise-green throat and a rufous lower breast and belly. Adult females have almost the same plumage, with the addition of some white on the chin and throat and a paler rufous belly. Juveniles resemble adult females with the addition of browish edges on their upperparts' feathers.

The amazilia hummingbird's song is "a variable but typically descending series of 4–10 squeaky notes, repeated at intervals." There are differences within and among the subspecies, especially that of "A. a. alticola" compared to the others. The species makes calls described as "tsip" and "dry 'zrrt'"; sometimes they are extended as "stuttering rattles".

Subspecies "A. a. alticola" has less rufous on the breast than the nominate and almost no green on the tail. "A. a. azuay" differs the most from the nominate. Its bill has less red on the maxilla, it has a nearly pure white belly with rufous only on the lower flanks, and its uppertail coverts and tail are paler rufous with little green. "A. a. dumerilii" is somewhat smaller than the nominate, with a white chin, throat, and center of the belly. "A. a. leucophoea" looks almost the same as "demerillii" but has bronze-green upperparts. "A. a. caeruleigularis" has a glittering violet-blue throat instead of the nominate's green.

Distribution

The amazilia hummingbird is found in western Ecuador and Peru. It does not migrate but does make some elevational dispersal after the breeding season. The six subspecies are distributed thus:

⤷ "A. a. alticola", Andes of southern Ecuador's El Oro, Loja, and Zamora-Chinchipe provinces
⤷ "A. a. azuay", south-central Ecuador, in the Jubones River basin of Azuay and Loja provinces
⤷ "A. a. dumerilii", Andean lowlands from western Ecuador into Tumbes Department of northwestern Peru
⤷ "A. a. leucophoea", northwestern Peru between Piura and Ancash departments
⤷ "A. a. amazilia", western Peru in Lima and Ica departments
⤷ "A. a. caeruleigularis", the Nazca valley in southwestern Peru

Status

The IUCN has assessed the amazilia hummingbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range but its population size and trend are not known. No immediate threats have been identified. Overall it is considered uncommon to common. "A. a. alticola" has a restricted range and is locally common where the habitat is suitable, but deforestation is a potential threat. "A. a. caeruleigularis" has a very patchy distribution in its rather restricted range.

Habitat

The amazilia hummingbird's habitat is different from that of its close relatives in the genus "Amazilia": It is a bird of open semi-arid to arid landscapes and is rarely found deep in forested areas. These landscapes include scrublands, thorn forest, xerophytic steppe, and desert. The species is also common in cultivated areas and city parks and gardens. The nominate subspecies is found between sea level and about 1,000 m. Subspecies "dumerilii", "leucophaea", and "alticola" are also found in the sub-montane zone in savanna and at the edges and clearings of cloudforest. In elevation they mostly range between 1,000 and 2,200 m, though "leucophaea" reaches as high as 2,700 m. "A. a. caeruleigularis" is apparently restricted to near-desert between 600 and 700 m.

Reproduction

Most subspecies of the amazilia hummingbird breed at any month of the year; "A. a. alticola" apparently breeds only from November to March. Females build a cup nest of soft plant fibers bound with cobweb and sometimes with lichen on the outside. It generally places it on top of a flat branch and sometimes at the end of a branch, between about 1 and 2.5 m above the ground. In Ecuador nests were found in denser vegetation during the rainy season than in the dry one. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for 16 to 18 days and fledging occurs 17 to 25 days after hatch.

Food

The amazilia hummingbird forages for nectar at a variety of plants with medium-length flowers; some examples include "Erythrina", "Psittacanthus", "Salvia", and "Justicia". Males are territorial, defending feeding patches from other hummingbirds and bananaquits. In addition to nectar it feeds on small insects and spiders. A time-budget study in Lima, Peru, showed that the species spent 80% of its time perched and about 15% foraging for nectar. It spent about 2% of its time defending feeding territories and only 0.3% hunting insects and drinking water.