The buffy hummingbird (''Leucippus fallax'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the

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 ...

family Trochilidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Leucippus''. This bird lives in

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) ...

and

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

in northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

where it feeds on insects and the nectar, flesh, and juice of cactus fruits.

Description

The male and female buffy hummingbird are similar in appearance but the female tends to be less brightly coloured, and there is considerable variation in shade between individuals. The back and upper parts of the bird are a dull green, the underparts pale cinnamon-buff and the belly and

undertail coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

white. The tail is dull green with a transverse grey bar and a rounded end. There is a white spot behind the eye and the beak is slender and straight. The upper mandible is black and the lower one pale with a black tip. The bird ranges from in length.

Taxonomy

The hummingbird is a member of the class

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

, the order

Apodiformes Traditionally, the bird order Apodiformes contained three living families: the swifts (Apodidae), the treeswifts (Hemiprocnidae), and the hummingbirds (Trochilidae). In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this order is raised to a superorder Apodi ...

, the family

Trochilidae 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 arou ...

and the genus ''

Leucippus Leucippus (; el, Λεύκιππος, ''Leúkippos''; fl. 5th century BCE) is a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who has been credited as the first philosopher to develop a theory of atomism. Leucippus' reputation, even in antiquity, was obscured ...

''. This genus formerly included additional species. 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 of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

. To resolve the polyphyly the Tumbes hummingbird and the spot-throated hummingbird were moved to the resurrected genus '' Thaumasius''.

Distribution and habitat

The buffy hummingbird is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

desert shrubland Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

, thorny shrubs in arid areas and mangrove areas at elevations of up to . It forages at medium heights and near the ground. It tends to feed near the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

of the forests that it inhabits.

Behavior

Feeding

Hummingbirds are specialist feeders on nectar and the buffy hummingbird consumes the nectar of such plants as ''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

'' and ''

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

'' and various species of cacti. The hummingbird will protect the flower patches that it feeds from. This hummingbird is unusual in that it also consumes the exposed flesh and the juice of the fruits of cacti in the genus ''

Armatocereus ''Armatocereus'' (from Latin ''armatus'', "armed" and ''cereus'', "pliant/soft") is a genus of mostly tree-like cacti from South America (Ecuador and Peru). These species have a conspicuous constriction at the end of the annual growth. The flowe ...

''. This hummingbird also plays an important role in the

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

of flowers of ''

Melocactus ''Melocactus'' (melon cactus), also known as the Turk's cap cactus, is a genus of cactus with about 30–40 species. They are native to the Caribbean, western Mexico through Central America to northern South America, with some species along the A ...

'', carrying the pollen on its plumage as it moves from flower to flower sipping nectar. In addition to plant matter, the bird consumes insects, which it catches in flight.

Migration

The buffy hummingbird migrates over small distances. During December to April, a period marked by minimal rainfall, the bird is generally found in areas with heavy thorn tree populations.

Reproduction

Male buffy hummingbirds perform courtship by plummeting from the sky in an arc-like fashion. They also produce mating calls during their fall. Most buffy hummingbird nests are found between the months of May and November, so breeding is believed to occur during this period of time. The nest is cup-shaped and built on top of a low branch or in the fork of a bush. It is composed of the soft fibers of the tree cotton and decorated externally with bits of bark, lichen and leaf. Two eggs are laid.

Conservation status

The total population size of the buffy hummingbird is unknown. However, it has a large range and there is no indication that the population of these hummingbirds is decreasing. Due to these factors, the bird is considered by 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 ...

to be of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261736 buffy hummingbird Birds of Colombia Birds of Venezuela buffy hummingbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot