The velvet-purple coronet (''Boissonneaua jardini'') 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 "brilliants", tribe
Heliantheini
Heliantheini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe in the subfamily is Lesbiini.
The informal name "brilliants" has been proposed for this group as it includes the ge ...
in subfamily
Lesbiinae. It 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 ...
and
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 ...
.
[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 velvet-purple coronet shares genus ''Boissonneaua'' with two other coronets, the
chestnut-breasted (''B. matthewsii'') and
buff-tailed (''B. flavescens''). 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
The velvet-purple coronet is long and weighs . Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill and a white spot behind the eye. Both have a notched tail, though the female's is less deeply indented than the male's, and both have small white puffs on the legs. Males have a velvety black head with a glittering purplish blue crown; the rest of the upperparts are shining bluish green. The throat is velvety black and the breast and belly glittering purplish blue. The underwing 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 cinnamon and show in flight. The central tail feathers are black and the rest white with black tips and edges. Females are similar to males but duller overall, and the breast and belly feathers have buff to grayish brown fringes.[Heynen, I. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Velvet-purple Coronet (''Boissonneaua jardini''), 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.vepcor1.01 retrieved 4 May 2022]
Distribution and habitat
The velvet-purple coronet is found along the Pacific slope of the Andes from southwestern Colombia's Chocó Department to northwestern Ecuador's Pichincha Province. It mostly inhabits the interior and edges of wet mossy primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
and secondary forest
A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
, but also occurs in shrubby landscapes. It has been recorded between in Ecuador and between in Colombia, but is most common above .[
]
Behavior
Movement
The velvet-purple coronet is generally sedentary, but seasonal elevational movements are known from Colombia.[
]
Feeding
The velvet-purple coronet is territorial and defends clusters of flowers from other nectar-feeding birds. It forages at any forest level from the lower strata to the canopy. It feeds by clinging to the flower, holding its wings open for a second or two after landing. In addition to feeding on nectar it captures small insects 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 velvet-purple coronet's breeding season spans at least from January to March but might extend as far as September. It builds a cup nest of moss and lichen on a horizontal branch or in a small fork. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.[
]
Vocalization
The velvet-purple coronet's courtship song is described as a "series of alternating harsh and soft whistles, 'si, siii, si, siii, si, siii...'".[
]
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 velvet-purple coronet as being of Least Concern, though it has a somewhat restricted range and its population size is not known and thought to be decreasing.[ It is considered uncommon and very local.][
]
References
External links
Velvet-purple Coronet photo gallery
VIREO
{{Taxonbar, from=Q944609
Boissonneaua
Birds of the Colombian Andes
Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes
Birds described in 1851
Taxa named by Jules Bourcier
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot