The Hispaniolan emerald (''Riccordia swainsonii'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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

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 ...

to the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, which is shared by the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Hispaniolan emerald was formerly placed in the genus ''

Chlorostilbon ''Chlorostilbon'' is a genus of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae, known as emeralds (as are some hummingbirds in the genera ''Amazilia'' and '' Elvira''). A single species, the blue-chinned sapphire is variously placed in the monotypic gen ...

''. Based on 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 and a 2017 publication, 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 ...

, 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), and 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 ...

moved it to the resurrected genus ''

Riccordia ''Riccordia'' is a genus of birds in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. They are endemic to the Caribbean. Species The species now placed in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus ''Chlorostilbon''. A molecular phylogenetic study publish ...

''.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 However, as of 2020

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) retained it in ''Chlorostilbon''. The Hispaniolan emerald is closely related to the

Cuban emerald The Cuban emerald (''Riccordia ricordii'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in the Bahamas and Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The Cuban emerald was formerly placed in the ge ...

(''Riccordia ricordii'') and the

Puerto Rican emerald The Puerto Rican emerald (''Riccordia maugaeus''), or zumbadorcito de Puerto Rico in Spanish, is species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico.Bündgen, R. and P. F. D. Boesman ...

(''R. maugaeus''). 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

Male Hispaniolan emeralds are long and females . The species weighs between . Both sexes have a small white spot behind the eye. Males have a 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 ...

is red and the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...

black, and that is slightly decurved at the outer end. Its forehead, crown, and cheeks are dull dark brown; the rest of its upperparts and flanks are dark green with a bronze tinge and the 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 ...

are dark green. Its throat is iridescent green with a large black patch below it. The rest of its underparts are a darker green than the upperparts with dark green undertail coverts. The tail is deeply forked and dark brown. The female's bill is more deeply decurved than the male's. Its head and upperparts are like the male's. Its underparts are gray that is darker on the belly and undertail coverts. The outermost pair of tail feathers have a gray base, a wide dark brown band near the end, and a white tip. The next pair inward is mostly dark grass green becoming black at the end. The inner three pairs are green.Bündgen, R. and G. M. Kirwan (2021). Hispaniolan Emerald (''Riccordia swainsonii''), version 1.1. 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.hiseme1.01.1 retrieved July 29, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The Hispaniolan emerald is found in both countries of its namesake island, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It inhabits the interior and edges of dense montane rainforest, scrublands, and coffee plantations. In elevation it mostly ranges between but is found as low as sea level and occasionally higher than .

Behavior

Movement

The Hispaniolan emerald is generally sedentary. However, it occasionally wanders to high elevations and perhaps regularly moves to lower ones after the breeding season.

Feeding

The Hispaniolan emerald forages for 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. It feeds anywhere from above the ground. In addition to nectar, it feeds on insects captured by

hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist *Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Haw ...

from a perch.

Breeding

The Hispaniolan emerald's breeding season extends from January to June and occasionally as late as August. It makes a cup nest of moss and plant fibers bound with spiderweb and covered with lichen. It often places it in shrubs within of the ground but sometimes as high as . The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for 15 to 16 days and fledging occurs 20 to 22 days after hatch.

Vocalization

The Hispaniolan emerald makes " arp metallic chipping notes", sometimes in a long series.

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 Hispaniolan emerald as being of Least Concern, though its population size and trend are not known. Though Hispaniola is a large island, the species is threatened by deforestation, especially in Haiti; however, it is confirmed to occur in at least two protected areas in that country. It " adily accepts man-made habitats as long as patches of forest remain."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269795

Hispaniolan emerald The Hispaniolan emerald (''Riccordia swainsonii'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Taxonom ...

Endemic birds of the Caribbean Endemic birds of Hispaniola Birds of Hispaniola Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Haiti

Taxa named by René Lesson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN