The green-backed hillstar (''Urochroa leucura''), formerly included in the white-tailed hillstar, 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 "brilliants", tribe

Heliantheini Heliantheini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe in the subfamily is Lesbiini. The informal name "brilliants" has been proposed for this group as it includes the ge ...

in subfamily

Lesbiinae Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamily, subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two Tribe (biology), tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coqu ...

. It 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 ...

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: ''Eku ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

.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 green-backed hillstar and what is now the

rufous-gaped hillstar The rufous-gaped hillstar (''Urochroa bougueri''), formerly included in the white-tailed hillstar, is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Taxonomy The ruf ...

(''Urochroa bougueri'') were once treated as a single species, the "white-tailed hillstar". (

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 ...

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. T ...

retains the "white-tailed" name for the present species.) They are the only two members of their genus. Although they share the name "hillstar" with the members of genus ''

Oreotrochilus The hillstars are hummingbirds of the genus ''Oreotrochilus''. They are native to the Andes in South America. The '' Urochroa'' hillstars are not closely related. Species list Their genus contains seven species: * Ecuadorian hillstar (''Oreotr ...

'', they are quite different and not closely related. The green-backed hillstar is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

.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 31 January 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved February 1, 2022del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Green-backed Hillstar (''Urochroa leucura''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whthil3.01 retrieved 5 May 2022

Description

The green-backed hillstar is long including its approximately bill. It weighs about . The sexes are alike, though the female is somewhate duller than the male. They have bronzy green upperparts with bronzy 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 sm ...

, an iridescent blue throat and breast, and a dull gray belly. Their central tail feathers are bronzy and the others white with dusky gray outer edges. Juveniles are similar to adults with the addition of buffy fringes on the head feathers and a slight buffy malar streak.

Distribution and habitat

The green-backed hillstar is found on the east slope of the Andes from southern Colombia through eastern Ecuador and disjunctly in northeastern Peru. It inhabits the interior and edges of mature

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

, and also shrubby slopes, and is often found near streams. In Colombia and Ecuador it generally ranges between elevations of , and is most numerous at about . In Peru it is known only between .

Behavior

Movement

Though the green-backed hillstar is generally sedentary, it makes some seasonal elevational movements.

Feeding

The green-backed hillstar usually forages in the lower and middle strata of the forest but occasionally in the canopy. Males defend feeding territories at stands of flowering vegetation. It takes nectar mostly from plants of genera ''Inga'', ''Bomarea'', ''Psammisia'', and ''Cavendishia''. In addition to feeding on nectar it captures small insects by

hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist *Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Haw ...

from a perch.

Breeding

The green-backed hillstar's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

has not been documented.

Vocalization

What is thought to be the green-backed hillstar's song is "a continuous series of single 'tseee', 'tsing' or 'seeuw' notes". It also makes "a liquid 'twit', repeated in long sequences.

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 green-backed hillstar as being of Least Concern, though its population size and trend are unknown. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered fairly common in Colombia, uncommon to rare in Ecuador, and rare and local in Peru.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q31873827 green-backed hillstar Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes green-backed hillstar