Green-bellied hummingbird facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Green-bellied hummingbird |
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| Illustration by John Gould | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Saucerottia
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| Species: |
viridigaster
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| Ranges of S. viridigaster (west) and S. cupreicauda (east) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Amazilia viridigaster |
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The green-bellied hummingbird (Saucerottia viridigaster) is a small, colorful bird. It belongs to the "emeralds" group of hummingbirds. You can find this bird in Colombia and Venezuela.
Contents
About This Hummingbird
How Scientists Classify It
Scientists group living things into categories. The green-bellied hummingbird used to be in a group called Amazilia. But in 2014, new studies looked at the birds' DNA. This showed that the Amazilia group needed to be reorganized. So, most scientists moved the green-bellied hummingbird to a different group, or genus, called Saucerottia.
Some scientists also think there are two main types of green-bellied hummingbirds. They call one the copper-tailed hummingbird (S. cupreicauda). This type includes four of the original six subgroups. The other two subgroups are still part of the green-bellied hummingbird. However, not all bird experts agree on this.
What It Looks Like
The green-bellied hummingbird is about 8 to 10.5 cm (3.1 to 4.1 in) long. It weighs around 4.5 to 6.7 g (0.16 to 0.24 oz), which is very light! Both male and female birds have a straight, medium-sized bill. It's blackish, but the bottom part is pink or reddish.
Adult males have a dull golden-green head and back. Their lower back and upper tail feathers are olive green or brownish. Sometimes, these feathers have a purplish shine. Their wings are dark purple-brown, and their tail is a deep blue or violet-blue. Their belly is a shiny dark green, turning grayish-brown near their legs.
Adult females look a lot like the males. However, they have white edges on their throat feathers. Their tail feathers might also have bronze or brownish edges. Young birds look like females, but their undersides are grayish-brown.
Where It Lives
The green-bellied hummingbird lives in different parts of South America. One type, S. v. viridigaster, is found in north-central Colombia. It lives on the eastern side of the Andes mountains. The other type, S. v. iodura, lives in the Andes of western Venezuela.
These birds like places that are partly open. You can find them at the edges of forests, in plantations, or in areas with bushes and shrubs. They also live on river islands and in young forests. They usually live on the lower to middle slopes of the Andes mountains. This is at heights between 400 and 1,700 m (1,300 and 5,600 ft) above sea level.
Hummingbird Behavior
Movement
Green-bellied hummingbirds generally stay in one area. They don't migrate long distances. However, they do move around locally. They do this to find the best places for nectar, which is their main food.
Feeding Habits
Scientists are still learning a lot about how green-bellied hummingbirds find food and what they eat. We know they drink nectar from flowers. They have been seen feeding from plants like Quararibea, Inga, and Erythrina. They also gather in large groups at trees that are blooming. Besides nectar, they also eat small arthropods, which are like tiny insects.
Reproduction
The breeding season for the green-bellied hummingbird seems to be from October to January. Only one nest has ever been found and studied. It was shaped like a cup and made of soft, buff-colored seed fluff. It had small pieces of lichen on the outside. The nest was built on a horizontal tree branch. We don't know much else about how these birds raise their young.
Vocalization
The song of the green-bellied hummingbird has been described in a few ways. Some say it's a "short dainty phrase" repeated many times, like "tee-tee-dji-dji" or "tee-dji-tee-dji." Others describe it as a "waif-like ta-da titi-da." Their calls include a "short high-pitched buzzy note" that sounds like "tzree..tzree..tzree..." They also make a "fast stuttered descending series" of sounds, like "TSEe-tsee-tsi-tsi-ti-ti."
Conservation Status
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the green-bellied hummingbird as a species of "Least Concern." This means it's not currently in danger of disappearing. However, we don't know exactly how many of these birds there are. Their numbers are thought to be going down because their habitat is being destroyed.
No specific threats have been identified for this species. It is considered uncommon to fairly common in Colombia. But we don't know how many there are in Venezuela. These birds are often seen along forest edges and in areas changed by humans. This suggests they might not be as badly affected by human activity as some other bird species.
