The green-crowned brilliant (''Heliodoxa jacula'') is 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 ...
,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
,
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
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
.
[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] It is also known as the green-fronted brilliant.
Taxonomy and systematics
The green-crowned brilliant has three subspecies, the nominate ''H. j. jacula'', ''H. j. henryi'', and ''H. j. jamersoni''.
[
]
Description
Male green-crowned brilliants are long and females . One female weighed . Both sexes of all subspecies have a white spot behind the eye and a forked tail, though that of the female is not as deeply indented as the male's.[Taylor, J. (2020). Green-crowned Brilliant (''Heliodoxa jacula''), 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.grcbri1.01 retrieved 7 May 2022]
Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a glittering green to blue-green head and breast with a small metallic violet-blue patch on the throat. The upperparts and belly are bronzy green, the vent area white, and the thighs also white. The tail is blue-black. Adult females' blue-green head is not shiny like the male's. They also have a short white malar stripe. Their underparts are whitish and heavily spotted with green; the spots merge on the flanks. The tail is black and the outer feathers have white tips. Immature males have a dull bronzy green crown and underparts, a bright buff chin and malar, and a shallowly forked tail. Immature females have a bright buff throat and duller green spots on the underparts than the adult.[
Subspecies ''H. j. henryi'' is larger than the nominate. Males' heads have a more brilliant glitter than the nominate's and their plumage is greener with less or no blue. Females have more white on their underparts and the separate green spots extend onto the flanks. Males of ''H. j. jamersoni'' are much duller than the nominate on the head and breast; their tail is shorter and its central feathers have a green gloss.][
]
Distribution and habitat
The nominate subspecies of green-crowned brilliant is found from Panamá Province
Panamá is a province of Panama. It is the location of the national capital Panama City, which also serves as the provincial capital. The governor of the province is Judy Meana, appointed by President Laurentino Cortizo and sworn in on 16 April ...
in eastern Panama into Colombia, where it inhabits all three Andean ranges. ''H. j. henryi'' is found more northerly, from Costa Rica south and east into Panama as far as Coclé Province
Coclé () is a province of central Panama on the nation's southern coast. The administrative capital is the city of Penonomé. This province was created by the Act of September 12, 1855 with the title of Department of Coclé during the presidenc ...
. ''H. j. jamersoni'' is found from Colombia's Nariño Department (and possibly from further north in Cauca Department
Cauca Department (, es, Departamento del Cauca) is a Department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department t ...
) south along the western slope of the Andes of Ecuador at least as far as El Oro Province
El Oro (; ''oro'' = gold) is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala.
History
The area was ...
.[
The green-crowned brilliant inhabits a variety of landscapes including the interior, edges, and clearings of humid ]sub-montane
Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...
and 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 ...
; mature 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 gardens. In elevation it generally ranges between in Costa Rica, though sometimes as low as . In Panama it is usually found between , in Colombia between , and in Ecuador between . There are also records as low as in Ecuador.[
]
Behavior
Movement
The low-elevation records of green-crowned brilliant in Costa Rica and Ecuador may indicate seasonal movements.[
]
Feeding
The green-crowned brilliant usually forages in the middle and upper strata of the forest. A primary source of nectar is ''Marcgravia'' vines, and females also feed at small understory plants. Males sometimes defend ''Marcgravia'' patches, though they also nectar by trap-lining
In ethology and behavioral ecology, trap-lining or traplining is a feeding strategy in which an individual visits food sources on a regular, repeatable sequence, much as trappers check their lines of traps. Traplining is usually seen in species ...
, visiting a circuit of flowering plants. The species usually clings to flowers to feed rather than hovering.[
]
Breeding
The green-crowned brilliant's nesting season in Costa Rica is thought to span from July or August to January and in Colombia from May to September. The nest is a bulky cup of plant fibers and scales of tree fern
The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...
s saddled on a thin down-sloping branch, typically between above the ground. The female alone incubates the two white elliptical eggs.[
]
Vocalization
The green-crowned brilliant makes "a loud and squeaky ''kyew'' or ''tyew'' call". In Costa Rica, displaying males make "a ''tseek, tseek, tseek''" call. During chases the species makes "loud sputtering notes and squeaks".[
]
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-crowned brilliant as being of Least Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[ It has been recorded in several protected areas. It "shows some tolerance of habitat fragmentation, degradation and disturbance utoutright forest clearance is expected to cause local population declines".][
]
Gallery
File:Green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula henryi) male composite.jpg, Composite showing effect of light reflection on the color of male ''H. j. henryi''s gorget, Mount Totumas cloud forest, Panama
File:Green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula henryi) juvenile.jpg, Juvenile ''H. j. henryi''
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1265911
green-crowned brilliant
Birds of Costa Rica
Birds of Panama
Birds of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena
Birds of Ecuador
green-crowned brilliant