The green mango (''Anthracothorax viridis'') is a large species of hummingbird in the subfamily

Polytminae Polytminae is one of the six subfamilies of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily contains 12 genera with a total of 29 species. The informal name "mangoes" has been proposed for this group as the seven species in the largest genus, ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the main island of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

.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 green mango's relationship to the other species of genus ''Anthracothorax'' has not been settled.Clements, 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 The species 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 "unispe ...

Description

The green mango is long and weighs about . The sexes are alike except that the female has a tiny white spot behind the eye. Adults' upperparts are emerald green, their underparts metallic blue-green, and their tail metallic blue-black with white tips to its feathers. Immatures have a brownish tinge to the head and back.Schuchmann, K.L. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Green Mango (''Anthracothorax viridis''), 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.greman1.01 retrieved January 18, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The green mango is found only on Puerto Rico. It primarily inhabits forests and plantations in the central and western mountains and is most common between of elevation. It is rare in coastal areas.

Behavior

Movement

The green mango makes altitudinal movements in response to seasonal changes in the timing of flowering.

Feeding

The green mango feeds on both nectar and

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

s. It takes nectar from a wide variety of flowering trees, shrubs, and vines, and males defend flowering trees. Insects are mostly taken on the wing and spiders from leaves and bark. It forages from the low understory to above tree-top level.

Breeding

The green mango's nesting season spans from October to May. It makes a cup nest of soft plant fiber with lichen on the outside. It is attached to a vertical branch, usually at least above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

The green mango is not highly vocal. It does have a song, "a repeated high-pitched phrase commencing with a drawn-out buzz, 'szzzzz-szi-szi-chup-tsz-tsz.....'." Its calls include "a repeated short 'tsik' and a high-pitched twittering trill." It makes harsh rattles and chatters during

agonistic An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the agon ...

encounters.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the green mango as being of Least Concern, though its population size and trend are not known. It is considered common in the mountains and "readily accepts man-made habitats" such as coffee platations.