The great-billed hermit (''Phaethornis malaris'') is a species of hummingbird in 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 aro ...

. It is found in Bolivia,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Colombia,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

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

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, Suriname, 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 ...

.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 August 2021. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved August 24, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The great-billed hermit's taxonomy is confusing. What are now the

long-billed hermit The long-billed hermit (''Phaethornis longirostris'') is a bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found from central Mexico south through Central America, Colombia and Ecuador into Peru. Taxonomy and systematics It has oft ...

(''P. longirostris'') and

long-tailed hermit The long-tailed hermit (''Phaethornis superciliosus'') is a large hummingbird that is a resident breeder in Venezuela, the Guianas, and north-eastern Brazil. This species was formerly referred to as the eastern long-tailed hermit. Taxonomy The lo ...

(''P. superciliosus'') were considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...

and included many subspecies that are now assigned to the great-billed hermit. A satisfactory taxonomic treatment of the entire ''P. longirostris/P. superciliosus/P. malaris'' group is still lacking according to some Neotropical ornithologists.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 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021Hinkelmann, C., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Great-billed Hermit (''Phaethornis malaris''), 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.grbher1.01 retrieved December 11, 2021 These six subspecies of great-billed hermit are generally recognized: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, 2021HBW 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 May 27, 2021 *''P. m. malaris'' Nordmann (1835) *''P. m. insolitus'' Zimmer (1950) *''P. m. moorei''

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

(1858) *''P. m. ochraceiventris'' Hellmayr (1907) *''P. m. bolivianus'' Gould (1861) *''P. m. margarettae'' Ruschi (1972) The subspecies ''P. m. margarettae'' is sometimes treated as a separate species, "Margaretta's hermit" (''P. margarettae''), and ''P. m. ochraceiventris'' has also been considered for species rank. At least two other populations within the existing subspecies have been suggested as additional subspecies.

Description

The great-billed hermit is long. Males weigh and females . The nominate subspecies is the largest. It has greenish-brown upperparts and brownish to grayish underparts. Its uppertail

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 s ...

have dark and light ochre bands and the central tail feathers are long with long white tips. It has a long decurved bill, with the female's being shorter but more curved than the male's. ''P. m. insolitus'' is smaller than the nominate but otherwise similar. ''P. m. moorei'' has paler, grayer, underparts than the nominate. ''P. m. bolivianus'' and ''P. m. margarettae'' are the smallest subspecies. The former has a dark brown throat and breast and an orange-ochre belly; ''P. m. margarettae'' is very similar to ''bolivianus'' but has paler underparts. ''P. m. ochraceiventris'' has a bright orange breast and belly.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of great-billed hermit are found thus: *''P. m. malaris'', Suriname, French Guiana, and north central Brazil's Amapá state *''P. m. insolitus'', eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, and the northwestern part of Brazil's Amazonas state *''P. m. moorei'', eastern and southern Colombia through eastern Ecuador into northeastern Peru as far as the

Marañón River , name_etymology = , image = Maranon.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Valley of the Marañón between Chachapoyas ( Leimebamba) and Celendín , map = Maranonrivermap.png , map_size ...

*''P. m. ochraceiventris'', northeastern Peru south of the Marañón River east into western Brazil south of the Amazon River as far as the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

*''P. m. bolivianus'', southeastern Peru to central Bolivia and into western Brazil between the Madeira and

Tapajós The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clearw ...

rivers *''P. m. margarettae'', coastal eastern Brazil from

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...

south to

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

The subspecies inhabit the understory of a variety of rainforest landscapes including '' terra firme'', foothill, and higher elevation tropical forest; transitional forest; secondary forest; and bamboo thickets. ''P. m. ochraceiventris'' in addition is found in ''

igapó Igapó (, from Old Tupi: "root forest") is a word used in Brazil for blackwater-flooded forests in the Amazon biome. These forests and similar swamp forests are seasonally inundated with freshwater. They typically occur along the lower reaches of ...

'' forest. In most areas it is found below of elevation but occurs as high as in Colombia and in Bolivia.

Behavior

Feeding

The great-billed hermit is a " trap-line" feeder like other hermit hummingbirds, visiting a circuit of a variety of flowering plants for nectar. Examples include ''

Heliconia ''Heliconia'', derived from the Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the we ...

'' and ''

Pitcairnia ''Pitcairnia'' is a genus of plants in the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. It was named for William Pitcairn, Scottish physician and gardener (1711–1791). The genus ''Pitcairnia'' ranks as the second most prolific of the bromel ...

''. It also consumes small

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

Breeding

The great-billed hermit's breeding seasons vary across its range, for instance at least August to December in French Guiana, June to September in Bolivia, and June to November in Peru. Like most hermits, it builds a cone-shaped nest of plant fibers and spider silk suspended from the underside of a drooping leaf. The clutch size is two eggs.

Vocalization

The great-billed hermit's song is generally "a continuous series of single, bisyllablic rising, falling 'slee-up' notes" that differs somewhat among the subspecies. It also makes "a sharp 'skweep!'" call, usually in flight.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the great-billed hermit as being of Least Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. However, " ubspecies''margarettae'', limited to forest remnants in

astern This list of ship directions provides succinct definitions for terms applying to spatial orientation in a marine environment or location on a vessel, such as ''fore'', ''aft'', ''astern'', ''aboard'', or ''topside''. Terms * Abaft (preposition ...

Brazil, could be threatened by further habitat destruction."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269383 Birds of the Guianas Birds of the Atlantic Forest Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Bolivian Amazon Birds of the Colombian Amazon Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon Hummingbird species of South America great-billed hermit great-billed hermit Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Phaethornis