The purple-backed thornbill (''Ramphomicron microrhynchum'') 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 "coquettes", tribe

Lesbiini Lesbiini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants). The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for this group as the largest genus, ''L ...

of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

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 ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

.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 purple-backed thornbill shares its genus with the

black-backed thornbill The black-backed thornbill (''Ramphomicron dorsale'') is an Endangered species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of northern Colombia.HBW and BirdLife In ...

(''R. dorsale''). It has these four subspecies: *''R. m. andicola'' Simon (1921) *''R. m. microrhynchum'' Boissonneau (1840) *''R. m. albiventre'' Carriker (1935) *''R. m. bolivianum'' Schuchmann (1984) Subspecies ''R. m. andicola'' and ''R. m. albiventre'' "are doubtfully distinct from henominate."Züchner, T., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Purple-backed Thornbill (''Ramphomicron microrhynchum''), version 1.0. 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.pubtho1.01 retrieved February 23, 2022

Description

The purple-backed thornbill is long and weighs about . Both sexes have a black bill, the shortest of any hummingbird. Males of the nominate subspecies have metallic violet-purple upperparts with a white spot behind the eye. Their

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 ...

is iridescent golden green, the underparts bronzy green, and 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 ...

coppery with tawny fringes. The tail is moderately long, forked, and dark purple. Nominate females have shining green upperparts, and like the male, a white spot behind the eye. Their underparts are white with green dots except on the belly. The tail is shorter than the male's and less forked, bronzy purple, and the outer pair of feathers have white tips. Males of subspecies ''R. m. andicola'' have a green-bordered golden gorget and more rufous undertail coverts. ''R. m. albiventre'' is very similar to the nominate, but with lighter margins on the male's undertail coverts and smaller spots on the female's underparts. Males of ''R. m. bolivianum'' have metallic violet upperparts, dark green underparts, and grayish white undertail coverts.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of purple-backed thornbill are found thus: *''R. m. andicola'',

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

of western Venezuela, especially Mérida state *''R. m. microrhynchum'', Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, and

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

in northwestern Peru *''R. m. albiventre'', Andes' eastern slope in Peru from

Huánuco Huánuco (; qu, Wanuku) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Huán ...

south to Apurímac and Cuzco *''R. m. bolivianum'', Andes of Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia The purple-backed thornbill inhabits the 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 ...

, ''

Polylepis ''Polylepis'' is a genus comprising 28 recognised shrub and tree species, that are endemic to the mid- and high-elevation regions of the tropical Andes. This group is unique in the rose family in that it is predominantly wind-pollinated. They are ...

'' forest, ''

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

'', and the transitions between them. ''R. m. bolivianum'' also occurs well below the treeline in shrubby areas. In elevation the species ranges from .

Behavior

Movement

The purple-backed thornbill moves from lower to higher elevations in the wet season.

Feeding

The purple-backed thornbill forages for nectar from mid-level to the canopy, primarily 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 ...

. It has often been observed "robbing" nectar from holes in flowers made by '' Diglossa'' flowerpiercers. It has been recorded taking nectar from a wide variety of flowering plants, shrubs, and trees. In addition it feeds on insects caught on the wing and gleaned from flowers.

Breeding

The purple-backed thornbill's breeding season has not been fully defined but appears to span from May possibly to December. It builds a cup nest of fine plant fiber with moss and lichens on the outside on a horizontal branch. The clutch size is two eggs and the incubation period 16 days.

Vocalization

The purple-backed thornbill's song is "a continuous series of quiet scratchy notes interspersed by short buzzes or dry trills." Its calls include "a short dry rattle 'trrr'..., a scratchy 'krr-kit', and a long twittering rattle."

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 purple-backed thornbill as being of Least Concern. It has a large range but its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. It is generally uncommon throughout its range. It occurs in several protected areas but outside of them its habitat is under severe threat of deforestation.

References

External links

Image of purple-backed thornbill - Ramphomicron microrhynchum
{{Taxonbar, from=Q903066

purple-backed thornbill The purple-backed thornbill (''Ramphomicron microrhynchum'') is a species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2 ...

Birds of the Northern Andes

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot