The broad-tipped hermit (''Anopetia gounellei'') is a species of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

in the family Trochilidae. It is endemic to Brazil.

Taxonomy and systematics

The broad-tipped hermit was for a time placed in the very large genus '' Phaethornis''. It is now placed in the monotypic genus ''Anopetia''. It has no

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

Description

The broad-tipped hermit is about long and weighs about . It is one of the smaller hermit hummingbirds. Its upperparts are bronzy green and its underparts mostly light brownish to ochraceous. It has a black "mask" and white

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

and malar stripe. It It has a dark brown throat with an orangy border. Its name derives from its bill, whose maxilla is wide and overlaps the mandible. Its two inner pairs of tail feathers are longer than the others, and all have white tips. Unlike some other hermits, the male's and female's bills have similar curvature.Hinkelmann, C., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Broad-tipped Hermit (''Anopetia gounellei''), 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.brther2.01 retrieved November 24, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The broad-tipped hermit is found in northeastern Brazil, in an area roughly from

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...

south to western Bahia and northeastern Minas Gerais. It mostly inhabits somewhat humid caatinga landscapes with dense undergrowth beneath shrubs and trees, but also more open areas such as cerrado. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to about .

Behavior

Movement

The broad-tipped hermit is believed to be mostly sedentary, though some small seasonal movements have been observed.

Feeding

The broad-tipped hermit is thought to be a " trap-line" feeder, visiting a circuit of flowering plants. It feeds on nectar at a large variety of plants, and also on small arthropods.

Breeding

The broad-tipped hermit's nesting season has not been fully defined but appears to span at least December to February. The few described nests have been cups suspended beneath a leaf. The clutch size is two eggs. Males have been observed incubating the eggs. The species may display in leks.

Vocalization

The broad-tipped hermit's song is "a rising and falling bisyllablic series of notes 'si-lew' repeated continuously... metimes altered with a longer 'suweesi'."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the broad-tipped hermit as being of Least Concern, though its population size and trend are unknown. It is " esumably uncommon in general, although regularly seen... ndoccurs in a relatively unthreatened habitat."