The hermits are

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

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 ...

s in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Phaethornithinae, comprising 37 species in six

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

. They occur from southern

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 ...

, through

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

as far south as northern

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 second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Their plumage typically involves greens, browns, rufous or grey. Most species show some green or bronze

iridescence Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...

to the upperparts, but this is far less conspicuous than that of many other hummingbirds. The male and female plumages of hermits are very similar, with differences limited to details of bill-shape, tail-shape and/or strength of colours/patterns. Most species of hermit do not show the strong

sexual dimorphism 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 ...

usually associated with hummingbirds;

green hermit The green hermit (''Phaethornis guy'') is a large hummingbird that is a resident breeder from southern Central America ( Costa Rica and Panama) south to northern South America (north-eastern Venezuela and Trinidad, and the northern Andes of east ...

is an exception to this rule. Hermits in the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...

, ''

Phaethornis '' Phaethornis '' is a genus of hummingbirds in the hermit subfamily, Phaethornithinae. They occur from southern Mexico, through Central America, to South America as far south as northern Argentina. Description and ecology Their plumage typica ...

'', have a long decurved bill (except for three species, ''P. koepkeae'', ''P. philippii'' and ''P. bourcieri'', with virtually straight bills) with a red or yellow base to the lower mandible, and their two central tail feathers are elongated and tipped with white, buff or ochre. The crown of the head is flat, and two pale facial stripes enclose a dusky mask. Most hermits are restricted to the edge and undergrowth of forest, woodland and second growth, but some species (e.g. the

planalto hermit The planalto hermit (''Phaethornis pretrei'') is a species of bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaram ...

) also occur in more open habitats. Many species of hermits form

leks A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an avail ...

and congregate on traditional display grounds, where females visit to choose a mate. Male hermits are generally less aggressive than other male hummingbirds, although both sexes will defend a feeding territory. Most hermits are associated with

heliconia ''Heliconia'', derived from the Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the we ...

s, but will utilize other nectar sources (flowers of ''

Centropogon ''Centropogon'' is a plant genus in the family Campanulaceae. In systems where the Lobeliaceae are recognized as distinct, ''Centropogon'' is placed there. Selected species * '' Centropogon aequatorialis'' * '' Centropogon albostellatus'' * ' ...

'', ''

Passiflora ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being shrubs or trees. They ...

'', ''

Costus ''Costus'' is a group of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Costaceae, described by Linnaeus as a genus in 1753. It was formerly known as ''Hellenia'' after the Finnish botanist Carl Niclas von Hellens. It is widespread through tropica ...

'', etc.). To a lesser degree, they will capture small

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

. The long, decurved bills typical of this group of

s are an adaptation to certain flowers. This is taken to an extreme in the two sicklebills (''

Eutoxeres ''Eutoxeres'' is a genus of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae 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 Fu ...

spp.'') with their very decurved bills. Many species, including the

rufous-breasted hermit The rufous-breasted hermit or hairy hermit (''Glaucis hirsutus'') is a hummingbird that breeds from Panama south to Bolivia, and on Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada. It is a widespread and generally common species, though local populations may cha ...

, also use the heliconias for nesting, attaching their conical nest to the underside of one of the plant's broad leaves. The

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of some groups has changed significantly in recent years. Apart from those issues discussed at ''

'', a taxonomic problem occurs with the ''Threnetes leucurus''/ ''T. niger'' complex. Schuchmann & Hinkelmann (1999) considered the sooty barbthroat a

melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...

variant of the ''T. leucurus'', but as it was described first, its

scientific name 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, bot ...

was adopted for the entire species; pale-tailed barbthroat (''T. niger''). This, however, has not been accepted by all authorities, notably SACC, which consider both ''T. niger'' and ''T. leucurus'' as valid species. Additionally, Mallet-Rodrigues (2006) suggested the taxon ''loehkeni'' should be considered a valid species, the bronze-tailed barbthroat. Three additional species, the

tooth-billed hummingbird The tooth-billed hummingbird (''Androdon aequatorialis'') is a species of bird from the family Trochilidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Androdon''. It is found in humid forests in western Colombia, north-western Ecuador (south to Pichinc ...

(''Androdon aequatorialis''), the green-fronted lancebill (''Doryfera ludovicae'') and the blue-fronted lancebill (''D. johannae''), have been included in this subfamily in the past, but are now placed in

Trochilinae Trochilinae is one of the six subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into three tribes: Lampornithini (mountain gems) containing 18 species, Mellisugini (bees) containing 37 species and Trochilini (e ...

Species in taxonomic order

References

* Schuchmann, K. L. (1999). Family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds). pp. 468–680 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors) (1999): ''

Handbook of 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. Th ...

, Volume 5: Barn-owls to Hummingbirds''. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. * * * Stiles, F. Gary; Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''. Comistock, Ithaca. * Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 04-07-2007
A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union.

South American Classification Committee (2003).

South American Classification Committee (2005). * Hinkelmann, C. (1996). ''Systematics and geographic variation in long-tailed hermit hummingbirds, the Phaethornis superciliosus-malaris-longirostris species group (Trochilidae), with notes on their biogeography.'' Ornitologia Neotropical 7(2): 119–148
PDF available
* Hinkelmann, C., and K. Schuchmann (1997). ''Phylogeny of the hermit hummingbirds (Trochilidae: Phaethornithinae).'' Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment. 32: 142–163. * Mallet-Rodrigues, Francisco (2006). ''Táxons de aves de validade questionável com ocorrência no Brasil. III - Trochilidae (I).'' Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 14(4): 475–479
PDF available
{{Taxonbar, from=Q741604 *