The rufous-webbed brilliant (''Heliodoxa branickii'') 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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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 rufous-webbed brilliant was at one time treated as the sole member of genus ''Lampraster'', which in the mid 20th century was merged into the present genus ''Heliodoxa''.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, 2022 It 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 ...

Description

The rufous-webbed brilliant is long. Males weigh about on average and females . The species' English name comes from its cinnamon-rufous inner wing feathers; the rest of the wing is dusky. Both sexes have a black bill whose

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

base is paler. Males are mostly shining dark green. Their forehead is brighter glittering green and they have an iridescent rosy

gorget A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the thro ...

. The undertail

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 ...

are bright white. The central pair of tail feathers are green and the rest dark blue. Females also have shining dark green upperparts, flanks, and breast. They have a short white streak from the bill to below the eye. The throat and breast are white, with shining green tips to the feathers, and the belly is white to buffy. A gorget is often lacking, and when present is paler and yellower than the male's. The undertail coverts are bright white like the male's, but the blue outer tail feathers have white tips.Schulenberg, T. S. and C. W. Sedgwick (2020). Rufous-webbed Brilliant (''Heliodoxa branickii''), 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.ruwbri1.01 retrieved 6 May 2022

Distribution and habitat

The rufous-webbed brilliant has been conclusively recorded only on the east slope of the Andes from central to southern Peru. There are also unconfirmed records in Bolivia.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. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved February 1, 2022 It inhabits the interior and edges of humid

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 ...

at elevations between .

Behavior

Movement

The rufous-webbed brilliant's movements, if any, have not been documented.

Feeding

The rufous-webbed brilliant primarily forages for nectar in the forest's understory and its edges, though the species of flowering plants it feeds at are only slightly known. It also eats small insects.

Breeding

The rufous-webbed brilliant'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

The rufous-webbed brilliant's song is "a series of ''chew'' notes interspersed with a short, rapid, descending trill." Its call is "a sweet, descending ''tew''".

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 rufous-webbed brilliant as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, but its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. No specific threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon to fairly common in Peru. It "shows some tolerance of habitat fragmentation, degradation and disturbance; however, outright forest clearance is expected to cause local population declines."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1264380 rufous-webbed brilliant Birds of the Peruvian Andes rufous-webbed brilliant Taxonomy articles created by Polbot