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Rufous-breasted Hermit - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo © by DABS
Petit Valley, Trinidad, July 2017
Glaucis hirsutus

Identification

Female
Photo © by Stanley Jones
Manu Lodge, Río Madre de Dios, Madre de Dios Department, Peru, September 2018

10–12 cm (4-4¾ in)
Bronze-green upperparts and bright cinnamon underparts.
The central tail feathers are colored like the back except for white tips, while the rest of the rounded tail has feathers that are rufous with black subterminal band and white tips.
The head shows a dusky stripe through the eye. The bill is long (1.5 inches) and curved, with a black upper mandible and a yellow lower mandible (on male, the upper mandible should also have yellow streaks)
Both sexes have superciliary and moustachial streaks, but these are far more pronounced in the female.

Distribution

Central and South America: found from Panama to Colombia, Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela, and Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada.

Taxonomy

Rufous-breasted Hermit was previously considered conspecific with Bronzy Hermit

Subspecies

Female
Photo © by DABS
Petit Valley, Trinidad, 16 July 2017

There are 2 subspecies[1]:

  • G. h. insularum:
  • G. h. hirsutus

Habitat

Forests and secondary growth, and edges, sometimes even to more open areas near the forest. Found at less than 1000 meters in northern Venezuela.

Behaviour

Described as inquisitive and aggressive, mostly seen alone.

Diet

Their main diet consists of nectar. They readily visit feeders.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Hinkelmann, C., P. F. D. Boesman, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Rufous-breasted Hermit (Glaucis hirsutus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rubher.01
  3. Birdforum Member observations

Recommended Citation

External Links

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