The Venezuelan sylph (''Aglaiocercus berlepschi'') is an Endangered 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 of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is restricted to two small mountain ranges in northeastern Venezuela.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 May 27, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The taxonomy of genus ''Aglaiocercus'' and of the Venezuelan sylph in particular are complicated. The genus also includes two other sylphs, the long-tailed (''A. kingii'') and violet-tailed (''A. coelestis''), and the three have several times been suggested to be either one species, or two with the Venezuelan being a subspecies of the long-tailed. Several additional species have been proposed for inclusion but they have almost conclusively been shown to be hybrids with ''kingii'' or one of the other sylphs. Since at least the early 2000s taxonomists have settled on the three-species treatment.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, 2022Altshuler, D.L., E. de Juana, P. F. D. Boesman, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Venezuelan Sylph (''Aglaiocercus berlepschi''), 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.vensyl1.01 retrieved February 18, 2022 The Venezuelan sylph is monotypic.

Description

The male Venezuelan sylph is long including the outer tail feathers and weighs . Females are long and weigh . Both sexes have a short black bill. Males have a dark glittering green crown and a shining green back. They have a glittering blue gorget and bronzy green underparts with puffy white thighs. The inner tail feathers are short and blue-green; the outer ones are very long and deep violet at the base becoming blue at the end. Females have a glittering blue crown; otherwise their upperparts are similar to the male's. Their throat, breast, and belly are white with green spots. Their tail is short and slightly forked, blue-green with white tips on the outer feathers. Immatures resemble adult females with buffy fringes on the head feathers.

Distribution and habitat

The Venezuelan sylph occurs where

Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...

, Monagas, and Anzoátegui states meet. It is found in two ranges of the Turimiquire Massif, the eastern

Cordillera de Caripe A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly ...

and the western Serranía de Turimiquire. It inhabits

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

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 ...

on coastal mountain slopes between of elevation.

Behavior

Movement

The Venezuelan sylph is sedentary.

Feeding

The Venezuelan sylph feeds on nectar from flowering vines, shrubs, and trees, especially those of genus ''Inga''. It uses trap-lining around a circuit of flowering plants but also will defend specific feeding territories. It also catches insects by hawking from a perch. It typically forages alone or in pairs but sometimes several will feed at a flowering tree.

Breeding

The Venezuelan sylph's breeding season spans from August to January. The female builds a domed nest in

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s and incubates the eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' 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 ...

Vocalization

The Venezuelan sylph's apparent song is "a continuous series of buzzy notes 'bzzt...bzzt...bzzt...'." It also makes "a high-pitched rising twittering 'tititi-teetsee..see..seee'."

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 Venezuelan sylph as Endangered. Its population could be as small as 1500 mature individuals and is believed to be decreasing. It has a very small range whose landscape is increasingly being converted to agriculture and pasture. Though it occurs in

Cueva del Guácharo National Park The Guácharo Cave National Park () is located from the town of Caripe, Monagas, Venezuela. It has as its centerpiece a large limestone cave. The cave was visited in 1799 by Alexander von Humboldt, who realised that the thousands of oilbirds ( ...

and Macizo Montañoso del Turimiquire Protective Zone, the latter is only nominally protected and deforestation continues there.