The buffy hummingbird (''Leucippus fallax'') is a species of bird in the

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 ...

family Trochilidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Leucippus''. This bird lives in dry forest and

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

in northern South America where it feeds on insects and the nectar, flesh, and juice of cactus fruits.

Description

The male and female buffy hummingbird are similar in appearance but the female tends to be less brightly coloured, and there is considerable variation in shade between individuals. The back and upper parts of the bird are a dull green, the underparts pale cinnamon-buff and the belly and

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 ...

white. The tail is dull green with a transverse grey bar and a rounded end. There is a white spot behind the eye and the beak is slender and straight. The upper mandible is black and the lower one pale with a black tip. The bird ranges from in length.

Taxonomy

The hummingbird is a member of the class

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

, the order Apodiformes, the family Trochilidae and the genus '' Leucippus''. This genus formerly included additional species. 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 ''Leucippus'' was polyphyletic. To resolve the polyphyly the Tumbes hummingbird and the spot-throated hummingbird were moved to the resurrected genus '' Thaumasius''.

Distribution and habitat

The buffy hummingbird is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, French Guiana, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are desert shrubland, thorny shrubs in arid areas and mangrove areas at elevations of up to . It forages at medium heights and near the ground. It tends to feed near the canopy of the forests that it inhabits.

Behavior

Feeding

Hummingbirds are specialist feeders on nectar and the buffy hummingbird consumes the nectar of such plants as '' Agave'' and '' Hibiscus'' and various species of cacti. The hummingbird will protect the flower patches that it feeds from. This hummingbird is unusual in that it also consumes the exposed flesh and the juice of the fruits of cacti in the genus ''

Armatocereus ''Armatocereus'' (from Latin ''armatus'', "armed" and ''cereus'', "pliant/soft") is a genus of mostly tree-like cacti from South America (Ecuador and Peru). These species have a conspicuous constriction at the end of the annual growth. The flowe ...

''. This hummingbird also plays an important role in the pollination of flowers of ''

Melocactus ''Melocactus'' (melon cactus), also known as the Turk's cap cactus, is a genus of cactus with about 30–40 species. They are native to the Caribbean, western Mexico through Central America to northern South America, with some species along the A ...

'', carrying the pollen on its plumage as it moves from flower to flower sipping nectar. In addition to plant matter, the bird consumes insects, which it catches in flight.

Migration

The buffy hummingbird migrates over small distances. During December to April, a period marked by minimal rainfall, the bird is generally found in areas with heavy thorn tree populations.

Reproduction

Male buffy hummingbirds perform courtship by plummeting from the sky in an arc-like fashion. They also produce mating calls during their fall. Most buffy hummingbird nests are found between the months of May and November, so breeding is believed to occur during this period of time. The nest is cup-shaped and built on top of a low branch or in the fork of a bush. It is composed of the soft fibers of the tree cotton and decorated externally with bits of bark, lichen and leaf. Two eggs are laid.

Conservation status

The total population size of the buffy hummingbird is unknown. However, it has a large range and there is no indication that the population of these hummingbirds is decreasing. Due to these factors, the bird is considered by 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 ...

to be of " least concern".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261736

buffy hummingbird The buffy hummingbird (''Leucippus fallax'') is a species of bird in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Leucippus''. This bird lives in dry forest and scrubland in northern South America where it feed ...

Birds of Colombia Birds of Venezuela

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot