Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The rufous-tailed hummingbird (''Amazilia tzacatl'') is a medium-sized hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found from east-central Mexico through Central America and Colombia into Ecuador and Venezuela.

Taxonomy

The rufous-tailed hummingbird was formally described in 1833 by the Mexican naturalist Pablo de La Llave. He placed it in the genus '' Trochlilus'' and coined the binomial name ''Trochilus tzacatl''. The rufous-tailed hummingbird is now placed in the genus ''Amazilia'' that was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson. The genus name comes from the Inca heroine in Jean-François Marmontel's novel ''Les Incas, ou la destruction de l'Empire du Pérou''. The specific epithet is from Aztec mythology: Tzacatl was a warrior chief.

The rufous-tailed hummingbird has these five recognized subspecies:

*''A. t. tzacatl'' (La Llave, 1833)
*''A. t. handleyi'' Wetmore, 1963
*''A. t. fuscicaudata'' (Fraser, 1840)
*''A. t. brehmi'' Weller & Schuchmann, 1999
*''A. t. jucunda'' ( Heine, 1863)

''A. t. handleyi'' was originally described as a separate species, the Escudo hummingbird. At least one author treated the rufous-tailed hummingbird and the chestnut-bellied hummingbird (''Saucerottia castaneiventris'') as a superspecies; the latter was included in genus ''Amazilia'' at that time, but the two are now known to not be closely related. Some authors have doubted that ''A. t. fuscicaudata'' should be a separate subspecies.Remsen, 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 31 January 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved February 1, 2022Reich, S. K. (2020). Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (''Amazilia tzacatl''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rtlhum.01 retrieved February 15, 2022

Description

The rufous-tailed hummingbird is long and weighs approximately . The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a green head and upperparts except for chestnut-brown lores and uppertail coverts. The tail is also mostly chestnut-brown, giving the species its English name; the feathers' outer webs and tips are bronze green. The throat, upper breast, and sides are green; the throat feathers sometimes have thin white edges giving a scalloped effect. The lower breast is gray, the belly white, and the undertail coverts chestnut-brown. The adult female's lower breast is a paler gray than the male's and the scalloping on the throat is more pronounced. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash to the lower breast and sides and the feathers of the lower back and rump have narrow cinnamon tips. The outer half of the bill's maxilla is black and the inner half red; the mandible is red with a black tip.

The song is "varied, high, thin, squeaky chirping, ''tsi, tsi-tsi-tsit tsi-tsitsi tsi-si-si''." Its calls are "a fairly hard, smacking ''tchik-tchik''...or...''tchi tchi''..., at times repeated insistently" and "dry, hard chips often run into a rattling ''chirr-rr-rr-rr-rr''".

''A. t. handleyi'' has the same color pattern as the nominate but is significantly larger and darker. ''A. t. fuscicaudata'' is smaller than the nominate and has a shorter and stouter bill. ''A. t. jucunda''s maxilla is pinkish brown rather than black; its belly is a darker gray than the nominate's and the bronze green on the tail is narrower. ''A. t. brehmi'' is similar to ''jucunda'' and ''fuscicaudata'' but has longer wings and tail. It has a longer bill than ''fuscicaudata'' and reduced green on the tail like ''jucunda''.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the rufous-tailed hummingbird are found thus:

*''A. t. tzacatl'', from the eastern Mexican states of Veracruz and Oaxaca south through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica into most of Panama (It apparently skips El Salvador.)
*''A. t. handleyi'', Isla Escudo de Veraguas off the Caribbean coast of northwestern Panama
*''A. t. fuscicaudata'', the Cauca River and Magdalena River valleys of northern and western Colombia east into western Venezuela's Lara and Táchira states
*''A. t. brehmi'', the upper Güiza River in Colombia's Nariño Department
*''A. t. jucunda'', from Chocó Department in western Colombia south through western Ecuador to Loja Province

The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society extends the range of ''A. t. jucunda'' into Peru.

The rufous-tailed hummingbird inhabits open, non-forested, landscapes such as clearings, gardens, and the edges of forest. It is also found in low, young, brushy, secondary forest. It frequently comes to feeders. In elevation the rufous-tailed hummingbird ranges from sea level to in Mexico, to in Costa Rica, in Colombia, and in Venezuela. It is found as high as in Ecuador but that elevation is thought be local or seasonal.

Behavior

Feeding

Like most hummingbirds, the rufous-tailed feeds on nectar and small insects. It is common at sugar water feeders and often seen in coffee and banana plantations. It is extremely territorial and aggressive at feeding sites such as flower patches and feeders, from which it chases other hummingbirds and large insects.

Breeding

The rufous-tailed hummingbird is polygynous. Though it is aggressive while feeding, the species sometimes nests in loose colonies. Its breeding season varies widely across its range, but is within the February to November span. The female is entirely responsible for nest building, incubation of eggs, and care of nestlings. She lays two white eggs in a compact cup nest constructed from plant fibers, leaves, and spiderwebs covered with lichens and mosses. It is typically placed up to high on a thin horizontal twig. Incubation takes 15 to 19 days, and fledging another 18 to 22 days.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the rufous-tailed hummingbird as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and a population estimated at more than five million mature individuals, though that number is thought to be decreasing. The species might actually benefit from human activity, as deforestation provides open spaces. The species frequents coffee and banana plantations and readily comes to feeders.

Gallery

File:Rufous-tailed Hummingbird JCB.jpg, Rufous-tailed hummingbird
File:Rufous-tailed Hummingbird RWD.jpg, Rufous-tailed hummingbird in Panama
File:Hummingbird at La Selva Costa Rica.JPG, At La Selva, Costa Rica

References

External links

Photo-Medium Res
chandra.as.utexas.edu–"Birds of Ecuador"
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q901824

rufous-tailed hummingbird
Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula
Birds of Mexico
Birds of Belize
Birds of Guatemala
Birds of Honduras
Birds of Nicaragua
Birds of Costa Rica
Birds of Panama
Hummingbird species of Central America
Hummingbird species of South America
Birds of Colombia
Birds of Ecuador
Birds of Venezuela
rufous-tailed hummingbird