Overview
Distribution
Geographic Range
The Steely-Vented Hummingbird, Amazilia saucerrottei, has a range from western Nicaragua to Costa Rica, Columbia and northwest Venezuela. It is a common resident of the north half of the Pacific slope and extends east to the Rio Frio region on the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch, 1989).
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
A. saucerrottei is 9 cm long and weighs 4.5 grams. It is all green with a bronzy rump and notched steel blue-black tail. The male has shading to bronze on wing-coverts and lower back, a purplish-bronze rump and upper tail-coverts, and the tail is dark steel blue to blue black. The bottom of the bird is entirely dark metallic green, with white thigh-tufts and a blue crissum (Stiles, 1989). The female's lower breast and belly is a duller green. The crissum feathers are edged with gray and the outer rectrices are purplish at the tips. The upper mandible is black and the lower a rose pink with black tip. The lower mandible is dusky with a reddish tip (Ridgely, 1989). The feet are black. The juvenile's underside is a dull, dark bronze-green (Stiles and Skutch, 1989).
Average mass: 4.5 g.
Average length: 9 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
- Terrestrial
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Habitat
A. saucerrottei prefers secondary growth and scrubby savanna with scattered trees, coffee plantations, and gardens. It is found regularly at openings and edges of evergreen gallery forest, especially during the dry season. It resides in lowlands and up mountain slopes to about 1800 meters (Stiles and Skutch, 1989).
Range elevation: 1800 (high) m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; agricultural
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
A. saucerrottei visits many kinds of flowers for nectar. It likes the flowers of trees (Inga, Pithecellobium, Tabebuia, Genipa), shrubs (Hamelia, Stachytarpheta), vines, epiphytes and herbs (Lobelia). Both sexes are aggressive at flowers (Stiles and Skutch, 1989).Probably also consumes insects like other hummingbirds, but no specific information available.
Plant Foods: nectar
Primary Diet: herbivore (Nectarivore )
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Associations
Ecosystem Roles
It is not known for this species in particular, but like other hummingbirds, they probably pollinate the flowers they visit while drinking nectar.
Ecosystem Impact: pollinates
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Predation
These hummingbirds are probably subject to common nest predators such as snakes.
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
No information, probably similar to other hummingbirds.
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Reproduction
Reproduction
A. saucerrottei builds a cup nest of compact pale-colored plants, down, and cobwebs, which is usually heavily decorated on the outside with lichens. The nest is usually placed on an outer twig of a small tree 2 to 7 meters above the ground (Stiles and Skutch, 1989).
Range eggs per season: 1 to 2.
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal )
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
Justification
History
- 2008Least Concern
- 2004Least Concern
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Conservation Status
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
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Trends
Population
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Wikipedia
Steely-vented Hummingbird
The Steely-vented Hummingbird (Amazilia saucerrottei) is a medium-sized hummingbird that is a resident breeder from western Nicaragua to Costa Rica, and also in Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. The Central American birds differ in voice and behaviour from those in South America and may be a separate species, the Blue-vented Hummingbird (A. hoffmanni, syn. A. sophiae). Both forms are sometimes placed in the genus Saucerottia, but this is not recognized by most authorities, notably AOU and Howard & Moore.
This hummingbird inhabits open woodland such as second growth, coffee plantations, gardens, savanna, and the edges and gaps of evergreen forests. It occurs from sea level up to 1800 m.
The nest is a cup of plant down and cobwebs, decorated outside with lichen and placed on a small outside twig 2-7 m high in a small tree. The female alone incubates the two white eggs.
The Steely-vented Hummingbird is 9 cm long and weighs 4.5 g. It is mainly bronze-green above, becoming more bronze on the wing, lower back and rump, and has a blue-black tail. The male has glittering green underparts, white thighs and a blue vent. The female is duller green below and has grey-buff edges to the vent feathers. Young birds are dull dark bronze-green below.
The Steely-vented Hummingbird has a trilled descending chit call in South America, but the Blue-vented from Central America has a high sharp tsip. The male's song in Costa Rica is a buzzy bzz WEEP wup.
This hummingbird feeds at many types of flowers, including epiphytes and Heliconias, and both sexes are aggressive and territorial, defending favoured areas.
References
- Hilty, Birds of Venezuela, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
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Unreviewed
