White-tailed hummingbird facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White-tailed hummingbird |
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Eupherusa
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poliocerca
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The white-tailed hummingbird (Eupherusa poliocerca) is a small, beautiful bird. It is found only in southwestern Mexico. This hummingbird is considered Near Threatened. This means its numbers are getting low, and it needs protection. It belongs to a group of hummingbirds called "emeralds".
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About the White-tailed Hummingbird Family
The white-tailed hummingbird is a unique species. It is the only one of its kind in some ways. However, scientists have sometimes wondered if it is related to other hummingbirds. For example, some thought it might be a type of Oaxaca hummingbird. Others thought it could be a type of stripe-tailed hummingbird. But now, it is seen as its own special species.
What Does the White-tailed Hummingbird Look Like?
This hummingbird is about 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long. It weighs about 4.5 to 5 g (0.16 to 0.18 oz). Both male and female birds have a straight, black beak.
Male Hummingbirds
Male white-tailed hummingbirds have bright, shiny bronze-green feathers on their backs. When their wings are folded, you can see a patch of reddish-brown feathers. Their two middle tail feathers are bronze-green. The other four pairs of tail feathers are grayish-white. Their bellies are bright, shiny yellowish-green. The feathers under their tails are white.
Female Hummingbirds
Female white-tailed hummingbirds have bright, shiny golden-green feathers on their backs. They also have a reddish-brown patch on their folded wings, like the males. Their middle tail feathers are golden-green. The other tail feathers are white, sometimes with a bit of dark or bronze-green. Their bellies are grayish-white. They have shiny green spots on their sides. The feathers under their tails are white to grayish-white.
Where Do White-tailed Hummingbirds Live?
The white-tailed hummingbird lives on the Pacific coast of southwestern Mexico. You can find them mostly in the state of Guerrero. They also live a little bit into western Oaxaca.
They like to live in humid forests on mountains. These can be pine-oak forests or forests where some trees lose their leaves. They also live at the edges of these forests and in plantations. It seems they need healthy, untouched forests to survive. They are not found in coffee farms where trees provide shade. They live at heights between 800 and 2,440 m (2,600 and 8,000 ft) above sea level.
How White-tailed Hummingbirds Behave
Movement and Travel
Scientists don't know much about how these hummingbirds move around. They might travel to different heights on the mountains depending on the season.
What Do White-tailed Hummingbirds Eat?
White-tailed hummingbirds search for nectar from flowers. They look for food at all levels of the forest, from the ground to the tops of the trees. They are known to feed from flowers of plants like Inga, Lobelia, Malvaviscus, and Psittacanthus. Like other hummingbirds, they also probably eat small insects and spiders.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
We don't know much about how white-tailed hummingbirds raise their young. Based on when scientists have found birds ready to breed, they might have two breeding seasons. One could be from February to May, and another from September to October. No one has ever described what their nest looks like.
What Do White-tailed Hummingbirds Sound Like?
The song of the white-tailed hummingbird is described as a "high, fast, slightly watery or squeaky warbling." One of their calls sounds like a "watery to slightly buzzing, rolling chip." This call often turns into a rattling trill. As of mid-2022, there are very few recordings of their sounds.
Is the White-tailed Hummingbird in Danger?
The IUCN (a group that tracks endangered species) has changed its rating for the white-tailed hummingbird several times. It was once considered "Threatened," then "Endangered," then "Vulnerable." Since 2021, it has been listed as "Near Threatened."
This bird lives in small, scattered groups within its limited home range. There are fewer than 15,000 adult birds left, and their numbers are believed to be going down. Some of the forests where they live have been destroyed. Much of the remaining forest is at risk from logging or being cleared for farms. Mexican authorities also consider this bird to be threatened.
