The green-fronted hummingbird (''Ramosomyia viridifrons'') 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 "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and possibly

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The green-fronted hummingbird was formerly placed in the genus ''

Amazilia ''Amazilia'' is a hummingbird genus in the subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in tropical Central and South America. Taxonomy The genus ''Amazilia'' was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson. Lesson had used ''amazilia'' i ...

''. 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 ''Amazilia'' 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 ...

. In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the green-fronted hummingbird was one of three species moved to the resurrected genus ''

Leucolia ''Ramosomyia'' is a genus in family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds, that was created in 2021 to replace ''Leucolia''. Taxonomy and species list The genus contains three species: *Violet-crowned hummingbird, ''Ramosomyia violiceps'' * Green-fr ...

'' by some taxonomic systems. However, a study published in 2021 showed that ''Leucolia'' was not available because of the

principle of priority 270px, '' valid name. Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or animal. There are two asp ...

. The authors proposed the new genus ''Ramosomyia'' and in mid-2022 it was adopted by the North American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

(AOS) and the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC). As of that date the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 2022 ...

retains the species in ''Leucolia'' and

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 ...

(HBW) in the earlier ''Amazilia''.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, 2021 The IOC and HBW assign two subspecies to the green-fronted hummingbird, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

''R. v. viridifrons'' and ''R. v. villadai''. AOS and Clements include a third, ''R. v. wagneri'', that the IOC and HBW consider to be a separate species, the

cinnamon-sided hummingbird The cinnamon-sided hummingbird (''Ramosomyia wagneri'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to the Mexican state of Oaxaca.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the ...

. This article follows the IOC/HBW model. In the mid-1900s two authors suggested that the green-fronted hummingbird is

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 organ ...

with the

violet-crowned hummingbird The violet-crowned hummingbird (''Ramosomyia violiceps'') is a hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Mexico and the southwestern United States.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of ...

(''Ramosomyia violiceps'') but most taxonomists have not accepted that treatment.Arizmendi, M. d. C., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, and T. S. Schulenberg (2021). Green-fronted Hummingbird (''Leucolia viridifrons''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grfhum1.01.1 retrieved August 10, 2022

Description

The violet-crowned hummingbird is long and weighs about . Both sexes of both subspecies have a red bill with a black tip. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a glittering bluish green crown, an emerald to bronze green nape and back, and grayish brown to bronze rump and 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 ...

. Their tail is coppery to purplish with bronze green edges to the feathers. Their underside from throat to undertail

is pure white with emerald to bronze green sides and bronze green flanks. Adult females are similar, though with a dark green crown and a bronze green to golden green tail. Males and females of subspecies ''R. v. villadai'' are very similar to the nominate but somewhat larger, and the green of their sides is less extensive giving a white appearance to their underparts.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of green-fronted hummingbird is found in southern Mexico from central

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

into western

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. ''R. v. villadai'' is found from Oaxaca into most of

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

according to the IOC, Clements, and the AOS.

extends the range of ''villadai'' into western Guatemala. The species inhabits deciduous forest, thorn forest, arid to semi-arid scrublands,

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

, and somewhat open landscapes with trees. In elevation it ranges between .

Behavior

Movement

The green-fronted hummingbird is generally a year-round resident, but individuals do make some seasonal movements.

Feeding

The green-fronted hummingbird forages for nectar at all heights of its habitat but is most common from the mid-level up to the canopy. The flowering plants that it feeds from have not been documented. It is assumed to also feed on small insects like most if not all other hummingbirds.

Breeding

The green-fronted hummingbird's nesting season has not been well defined but appears to include May, September, and October. Very few nests have been found; one was a cup made of whitish plant down covered with green lichens, and placed about above the ground. The clutch size is two. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

The green-fronted hummingbird's main vocalization is a soft "dry chattering".

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-fronted hummingbird as being of Least Concern, though its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. No specific threats have been identified. However, Mexican authorities consider it threatened by habitat loss.

References

Hummingbird species of Central America Birds of Mexico green-fronted hummingbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN Ramosomyia