The Pirre hummingbird (''Goldmania bella''), also somewhat misleadingly known as the rufous-cheeked hummingbird, is a

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

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 "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and far northwestern

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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Pirre hummingbird was first described by

Edward William Nelson Edward William Nelson (May 8, 1855 – May 19, 1934) was an American naturalist and ethnologist. A collector of specimens and field naturalist of repute, he became a member of several expeditions to survey the fauna and flora. He was part o ...

in 1912 from specimens collected near Cana and the slopes of the Cerro Pirre in the Darién National Park in eastern Panama near the border with Colombia. Nelson coined the

binomial 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 ...

''Goethalsia bella''. 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 the Pirre hummingbird was closely related to the violet-capped hummingbird (''Goldmania violiceps''). Most taxonomic systems moved the species into '' Goldmania'', which has priority. However,

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

'' retains it in ''Goethalsia''.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, 2021Remsen, 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 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022 The Pirre hummingbird 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 ...

: No

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised.

Description

The Pirre hummingbird is long. Males weigh about and females . Both sexes have a slightly decurved bill with a black

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 ...

and a black-tipped pink

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 ...

. The male has a chestnut forehead and lores. Its crown, back, rump, and 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 metallic green; the lower back and rump have a bronzy cast. Its central pair of tail feathers have bronze green bases and black tips and the rest are cinnamon buff with black tips. Its chin is cinnamon buff, the throat, breast, and belly shiny bluish green, and the undertail coverts white. Females have entirely green upperparts without the male's chestnut forehead. Their lores are chestnut and their underparts pale cinnamon buff.Schulenberg, T. S. and C. W. Sedgwick (2021). Pirre Hummingbird (''Goldmania bella''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ruchum1.01.1 retrieved September 1, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The Pirre hummingbird is found on a few isolated ridges in Panama's eastern Darién Province and in adjacent Chocó Department in Colombia. It inhabits the understory of the edges and interior 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 Pirre hummingbird's movements, if any, have not been documented.

Feeding

The Pirre hummingbird forages for nectar from near the ground to the middle levels of the forest. Its diet has not been described in detail but it has been observed feeding at '' Cephalus'' shrubs. In addition to nectar it is assumed to also feed on small

arthropod 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 ...

s like other hummingbirds.

Breeding

Nothing is known about the Pirre hummingbird'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 ...

and its nest has not been described.

Vocalization

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library and

xeno-canto xeno-canto is a citizen science project and Information repository, repository in which volunteers record, upload and annotate recordings of Bird vocalization, birdsong and bird calls. Since it began in 2005, it has collected over 575,000 sound r ...

have very few recordings of the Pirre hummingbird's vocalizations. It does make "a single sharp note repeated in a long series" while perched but its function is not known.

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 Pirre hummingbird as Near Threatened. It has a small range and occupies very few locations within it. "Much of the highland forest within this very restricted range remains relatively pristine because of its inaccessibility and formal protection." Its population size and trend are not known. Because it inhabits fairly high elevations, it is vulnerable to changes due to climate change. It is variously considered rare, uncommon, fairly common, and very common at different sites.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q596581 Pirre hummingbird Hummingbird species of Central America Birds of Panama Pirre hummingbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN