The green-backed firecrown (''Sephanoides sephaniodes'') is a

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are ...

in the "coquettes", tribe

Lesbiini Lesbiini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants). The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for this group as the largest genus, '' ...

of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, mainland

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

, and the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic ...

.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 May 27, 2021Clements, 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

Taxonomy and systematics

The green-backed firecrown 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 "unispe ...

. It shares its genus only with the Juan Fernandez firecrown (''S. fernandensis''). The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

''sephaniodes'' is sometimes misspelled ''sephanoides'' to match the genus.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, 2021

Description

The green-backed firecrown is long. Males weigh about and females about . The species is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, with larger, short-billed males, and smaller, longer-billed females. Adults of both sexes have bronzy green upperparts, slaty green wings and tails, and pale buff underparts with black and green spots. Adult males have the eponymous iridescent red-yellow crown. Juveniles of both sexes have rusty feather edges on the head and their underparts have a cinnamon tone. Because the young are sexually monochromatic, it is difficult to assign a sex to them.Roy, M.S., P. F. D. Boesman, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Green-backed Firecrown (''Sephanoides sephaniodes''), 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.grbfir1.01 retrieved January 22, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The green-backed firecrown is found in Chile from south of the Atacama Region all the way to the southern tip of South America, in the adjoining areas of southern Argentina, and east across central Argentina to the Atlantic coast. (See Behavior:Movement below for details.) An isolated population is found on

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

and

Alejandro Selkirk Island Alejandro Selkirk Island ( es, Isla Alejandro Selkirk), previously known as Más Afuera (Farther Out (to Sea)) and renamed after the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk, is the largest and most westerly island in the Juan Fernández Archipelago o ...

s of the Juan Fernández group, some off the Chilean coast. It has been recorded as a vagrant on the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

. The species inhabits forest edges, plantations of introduced ''Eucalyptus'', clearings, thickets, and gardens. It is an important pollinator for the temperate rainforest regions of southern South America. In elevation it ranges from sea level to above .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

Behavior

Movement

The green-backed firecrown is resident in the

Chilean matorral The Chilean Matorral (NT1201) is a terrestrial ecoregion of central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. It is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, part of the Neotropical realm. Matorral is typically charact ...

from south of the Atacama Region to approximately the

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( es, Región de Los Lagos , ''Region of the Lakes'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains ...

and in adjoining western Argentina. It nests from Los Lagos all the way to the southern tip of South America in both Chile and adjoining Argentina. In the non-breeding season it winters in the lowlands of central Argentina as far east as the Atlantic coast. The Juan Fernandez Islands population is believed to be sedentary.C. Michael Hogan & World Wildlife Fund. 2013
Chilean matorral. ed. M.McGinley. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment
Washington DC

Feeding

The green-backed firecrown feeds on nectar from a variety of native and introduced flowering plants, favoring those of genera ''Abutilon'', ''Embothrium'' and ''Fuchsia'', and sometimes perches on flowers to feed rather than hovering. It is able to recall not only the nectar location among identical flowers but also to the location of the most rewarding nectar among less rewarding flowers. It is intensely territorial and has been noted to chase birds as large as

caracaras Caracaras are birds of prey in the family Falconidae. They are traditionally placed in subfamily Polyborinae with the forest falcons, but are sometimes considered to constitute their own subfamily, Caracarinae, or classified as members of th ...

Breeding

The green-backed firecrown's nesting season on the mainland spans from September to November; data are sparse but the season on Juan Fernández appears to be September to December. The nest is a very small cup that is sometimes placed above water. The clutch is two white eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding

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

Vocalization

The green-backed firecrown's typical song is "a series of high-pitched notes interspersed by gravelly trills and squeaky notes, 'pseee...pseee...krrr.skee.skee.skee....psee...'." Its call is "a single 'psee' or 'skee'."

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 firecrown as being of Least Concern, though its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. It is locally common, and does well in human-altered landscapes such as city parks and gardens. In the Juan Fernandez Islands its population is believed to be about 5000 birds. It occurs in several protected areas on the mainland. No immediate threats have been identified.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1259459

green-backed firecrown The green-backed firecrown (''Sephanoides sephaniodes'') is a hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Argentina, mainland Chile, and the Juan Fernández Islands.HBW and BirdLife International (2020 ...

Birds of Chile Birds of Patagonia

Taxa named by René Lesson