The beautiful sheartail is 7.7 to 9 cm (3.0 to 3.5 in) long and weighs about 2.2 to 3 g (0.078 to 0.11 oz). Both sexes have a long, slightly decurved, black bill. Males have metallic bronze green upperparts and a white stripe behind the eye. Their gorget is metallic magenta purple that is more violet and blue to the rear; the rear feathers are elongated. The breast is grayish white, the flanks metallic bronze green, and the undertail coverts white. The tail is long and forked. The central two pairs of feathers are metallic bronze green and the other three pairs bronzy black. The female's upperparts are also metallic bronze green that is duller on the crown. The underparts are pale grayish buff with cinnamon buff flanks. The tail is shorter than the male's and rounded. Its central two pairs of feathers are bright bronze green. The three outer pairs have light cinnamon rufous bases and the balance is black but for white tips on the outer two pairs.[5]
Distribution and habitatedit
The beautiful sheartail is found only in south central Mexico, from central Guerrero and southern Puebla south to Oaxaca. It inhabits arid and semiarid scrublands, semi-open areas with trees and shrubs, and gallery forest, mostly within interior valleys. In elevation it ranges between 1,000 and 2,200 m (3,300 and 7,200 ft).[5]
Behavioredit
Movementedit
The beautiful sheartail is generally thought to be a year-round resident, but a few relocate to near sea level in Oaxaca after breeding.[5]
Feedingedit
The beautiful sheartail mostly forages close to the ground but will feed at any height vegetation. It takes nectar from a wide variety of plants though details are lacking. Its close relative the Lucifer hummingbird defends patches of flowers. In addition to feeding on nectar, the beautiful sheartail takes small insects by hawking from a perch.[5]
Breedingedit
Male beautiful sheartails make a courtship display by rocking back and forth in front of the female and then making a diving and swooping flight. Their breeding season appears to span from May to November. One nest was a cup made from fine plant down with pappi on the outside and held to a branch with spiderweb. The clutch was two eggs. Little else is known about the species' breeding phenology.[5]
Songs and calls
Listen to beautiful sheartail on xeno-canto
Vocalizationedit
During the flight section of the courtship display, the male beautiful sheartail repeats "a very high, thin to slightly squeaky t-swiik t-swiik ... or w-siiu w-siiu ...". The species' call is "high, twittering chips".[5]
Statusedit
The IUCN has assessed the beautiful sheartail as being of Least Concern. It has a fairly large range and an estimated population of between 20,000 and 50,000 mature individuals. However, the population is believed to be decreasing. No specific threats have been identified.[1]
Referencesedit
^ abBirdLife International (2021). "Calothorax pulcher". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22688189A167028514. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22688189A167028514.en. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
^ abcdefArizmendi, M. d. C., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, T. Johnson, and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Beautiful Hummingbird (Calothorax pulcher), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.beahum1.01 retrieved July 26, 2022
January 01, 1970
beautiful, sheartail, beautiful, sheartail, beautiful, hummingbird, calothorax, pulcher, species, hummingbird, tribe, mellisugini, subfamily, trochilinae, hummingbirds, endemic, mexico, conservation, status, least, concern, iucn, cites, appendix, cites, scient. The beautiful sheartail or beautiful hummingbird Calothorax pulcher is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae the bee hummingbirds It is endemic to Mexico 3 4 Beautiful sheartail Conservation status Least Concern IUCN 3 1 1 CITES Appendix II CITES 2 Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Clade Strisores Order Apodiformes Family Trochilidae Genus Calothorax Species C pulcher Binomial name Calothorax pulcherGould 1859 Contents 1 Taxonomy and systematics 2 Description 3 Distribution and habitat 4 Behavior 4 1 Movement 4 2 Feeding 4 3 Breeding 4 4 Vocalization 5 Status 6 ReferencesTaxonomy and systematics editThe beautiful sheartail shares genus Calothorax with the Lucifer sheartail C lucifer It is monotypic 3 Description editThe beautiful sheartail is 7 7 to 9 cm 3 0 to 3 5 in long and weighs about 2 2 to 3 g 0 078 to 0 11 oz Both sexes have a long slightly decurved black bill Males have metallic bronze green upperparts and a white stripe behind the eye Their gorget is metallic magenta purple that is more violet and blue to the rear the rear feathers are elongated The breast is grayish white the flanks metallic bronze green and the undertail coverts white The tail is long and forked The central two pairs of feathers are metallic bronze green and the other three pairs bronzy black The female s upperparts are also metallic bronze green that is duller on the crown The underparts are pale grayish buff with cinnamon buff flanks The tail is shorter than the male s and rounded Its central two pairs of feathers are bright bronze green The three outer pairs have light cinnamon rufous bases and the balance is black but for white tips on the outer two pairs 5 Distribution and habitat editThe beautiful sheartail is found only in south central Mexico from central Guerrero and southern Puebla south to Oaxaca It inhabits arid and semiarid scrublands semi open areas with trees and shrubs and gallery forest mostly within interior valleys In elevation it ranges between 1 000 and 2 200 m 3 300 and 7 200 ft 5 Behavior editMovement edit The beautiful sheartail is generally thought to be a year round resident but a few relocate to near sea level in Oaxaca after breeding 5 Feeding edit The beautiful sheartail mostly forages close to the ground but will feed at any height vegetation It takes nectar from a wide variety of plants though details are lacking Its close relative the Lucifer hummingbird defends patches of flowers In addition to feeding on nectar the beautiful sheartail takes small insects by hawking from a perch 5 Breeding edit Male beautiful sheartails make a courtship display by rocking back and forth in front of the female and then making a diving and swooping flight Their breeding season appears to span from May to November One nest was a cup made from fine plant down with pappi on the outside and held to a branch with spiderweb The clutch was two eggs Little else is known about the species breeding phenology 5 nbsp Songs and calls Listen to beautiful sheartail on xeno canto Vocalization edit During the flight section of the courtship display the male beautiful sheartail repeats a very high thin to slightly squeaky t swiik t swiik or w siiu w siiu The species call is high twittering chips 5 Status editThe IUCN has assessed the beautiful sheartail as being of Least Concern It has a fairly large range and an estimated population of between 20 000 and 50 000 mature individuals However the population is believed to be decreasing No specific threats have been identified 1 References edit a b BirdLife International 2021 Calothorax pulcher IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021 e T22688189A167028514 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2021 3 RLTS T22688189A167028514 en Retrieved 26 July 2022 Appendices CITES cites org Retrieved 2022 01 14 a b Gill F Donsker D Rasmussen P eds January 2022 Hummingbirds IOC World Bird List v 12 1 Retrieved January 15 2022 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 MB retrieved 27 May 2021 a b c d e f Arizmendi M d C C I Rodriguez Flores C A Soberanes Gonzalez T Johnson and T S Schulenberg 2020 Beautiful Hummingbird Calothorax pulcher version 1 0 In Birds of the World T S Schulenberg Editor Cornell Lab of Ornithology Ithaca NY USA https doi org 10 2173 bow beahum1 01 retrieved July 26 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Beautiful sheartail amp oldid 1184302848, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
