- Venezuelan Sylph
Taxobox
name = Venezuelan Sylph
status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum =Animalia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Aves
ordo =Apodiformes
familia =Trochilidae
genus = "Aglaiocercus "
species = "A. berlepschii"
binomial = "Aglaiocercus berlepschi"
binomial_authority = (Hartert, 1898)
synonyms =The Venezuelan Sylph ("Aglaiocercus berlepschi") is a small
bird in thehummingbird family, Trochilidae. It is restricted to a small area of north-easternVenezuela and is classed as anendangered species byBirdLife International . It is sometimes considered to be asubspecies of theLong-tailed Sylph ("A. kingi").The male is 22 centimetres in length with the elongated outer tail-feathers accounting for 14-15 centimetres. Its
plumage is mostly irridescent green. The throat is blue and the outer tail-feathers are violet, becoming blue towards the tips. The female is 9.5-11 centimetres long. The tail is shorter than that of the male but still fairly long and slightly forked. Females have a blue crown and white throat, breast and belly.The Long-tailed Sylph is similar in appearance but does not overlap in range. Males of the subspecies "caudatus" have a mostly blue tail and no blue throat patch while males of the subspecies "margarethae" have green tips to the tail-feathers. Females have a rufous breast and belly.
The Venezuelan Sylph occurs in Sucre,
Monagas andAnzoátegui states. It is found in theCordillera de Caripe and Cerro Negro and there are unconfirmed reports from theParia Peninsula . It inhabitsforest andscrubland on coastal mountain slopes from 1,450 to 1,800 metres above sea-level. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat.References
*aut|BirdLife International (2007) [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=32190&m=0 "Species factsheet: Aglaiocercus berlepschi."] Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 16/9/2007.
*aut|de Schauensee, Rodolphe Meyer & Phelps, William H. (1978) "A Guide to the Birds of Venezuela", Princeton University Press.External links
* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=32190&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet.]
* [http://www.pbase.com/csloan/image/75523133 Photograph of a Venezuelan Sylph]
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