Golden-bellied Starfrontlet

Golden-bellied Starfrontlet
Golden-Bellied Starfrontlet
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Coeligena
Species: C. bonapartei
Binomial name
Coeligena bonapartei
A. Boissonneau, 1840

The Golden-Bellied Starfrontlet (Coeligena bonapartei) is a species of hummingbird found in Colombia and a very small part of Venezuela.[1][2]

It averages 11.4 cm (4.5 inches) in length, plus its very long bill (3.3 cm or 1.3 inches), and 6.5 grams in weight. The adult male's crown is blackish with a glittery green patch over the bill (a "frontlet"). Its back is golden-green with a greenish-copper rump. A rufous-buff patch on the tertial wing feathers is conspicuous in flight. The breast glitters green, as does the throat except for a small violet patch in the center. The belly, coppery to reddish gold, glitters intensely. The tail is bronze-green and slightly forked.[2]

The adult female is similar but duller; the green patch over the bill is matte, the throat is plain buff, and the breast is buff with many green spots. The female also lacks the tertial patch.[2]

Its habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.[1] It follows a habitual path or "trap-line" with stops at flowering plants such as Bomarea, Cavendishia, Fuchsia, Macleonia, Mutisia, and Palicouria, whose nectar it feeds on. It also catches insects in flight and gleans them off plants. In general its behavior is probably similar to that of the Golden-tailed Starfrontlet, which may be a subspecies of this species.[2][3]

The scientific name commemorates Charles Lucien Bonaparte.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International 2004. Coeligena bonapartei. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 July 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press. pp. 425. ISBN 0-691-09250-8. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0691092508/. Retrieved 2007-10-04. 
  3. ^ Stiles, Gary (November, 2004). "Split Coeligena eos from Coeligena bonapartei". http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~remsen/SACCprop139.html. Retrieved 2007-10-04 
  4. ^ Beolen, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2004). Whose Bird? Common Bird Names and the People They Commemorate. Yale University Press. pp. 49. ISBN 0-300-10359-X. http://www.amazon.com/dp/030010359X. Retrieved 2007-04-08. 
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