The white-sided hillstar (''Oreotrochilus leucopleurus'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamily, subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two Tribe (biology), tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coqu ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

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 ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

.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 white-sided hillstar was at one time proposed to be a subspecies of Andean hillstar (''Oreotrochilus estella'') but major taxonomies retain it as a species. 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 ...

.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, 2022Clements, 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, 2021

Description

The white-sided hillstar is long and weighs . Adults have a medium length slightly decurved black bill. The adult male has drab brown upperparts. It has a shiny green

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 ...

with a black border that separates it from the white breast and belly. The belly has a wide blue-black stripe down its middle into the vent area. The somewhat rounded tail is bronzy black and its outer feathers have white at the base. The female is also dull brown above, and below as well. Its throat is pale with fine dark speckles. The tail is greenish black and the outer three or four pairs of feathers have much white at the bases and tips. The juvenile is overall more grayish than the adult and the male has a dark blue-green gorget.Fjeldså, J., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). White-sided Hillstar (''Oreotrochilus leucopleurus''), 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.whshil1.01 retrieved February 21, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The white-sided hillstar is found in the

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 ...

from central Bolivia's

Cochabamba Department Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa Jach'a Suyu, es, Departamento de Cochabamba , qu, Quchapampa Suyu), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the ...

south through Chile to the

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( es, Región del Biobío ), is one of Chile's sixteen regions of Chile, regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided int ...

and Argentina as far south as Santa Cruz Province. It inhabits

puna grassland The puna grassland ecoregion, of the montane grasslands and shrublands biome, is found in the central Andes Mountains of South America. It is considered one of the eight Natural Regions in Peru,Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Perú; Las Ocho ...

s with dwarf shrubs, cacti, and ''

Puya Puya may refer to: * ''Puya'' (plant), in the family Bromeliaceae * Puya (river), in Russia * Puya, a variety of Guajillo chili * ''Puya'' (Meitei texts), traditional or mythological texts of the Meetei people * ''Culoepuya'' or ''Culo'e Puya'', V ...

''. In elevation it generally ranges from but may go higher even to the snow line.

Behavior

Movement

The white-sided hillstar mostly leaves Chile during the Austral winter but some individuals simply move to lower elevations. There might also be some late winter or early spring movement further north than Cochabamba in Bolivia.

Feeding

The diet and feeding strategy of the white-sided hillstar are not well known but are believed to be similar to those of the closely related Andean hillstar. That species feeds on nectar at a variety of flowering shrubs, cacti, and trees, and perches to feed rather than hovering. It also gleans

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 from vegetation and sometimes catches them on the wing.Fjeldså, J., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Andean Hillstar (''Oreotrochilus estella''), 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.andhil3.01 retrieved February 21, 2022

Breeding

The white-sided hillstar breeds in November and December. It glues its large cup nest to a vertical rock face in a well-protected spot. The clutch size is two eggs. Little 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 white-sided hillstar's vocalizations are not well known. It does make "a repeated short 'tsit'" call and also "a fast twittering during chasing or display".

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 white-sided hillstar as being of Least Concern. Though its population size is unknown, it is believed to be stable. It is generally common and occurs in several protected areas. Its core habitat is under only slight human pressure.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1263634

white-sided hillstar The white-sided hillstar (''Oreotrochilus leucopleurus'') is a species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Bi ...

Birds of the Southern Andes

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot