Xantus's hummingbird

Xantus's hummingbird (Basilinna xantusii) is a medium-sized hummingbird endemic to the Baja California Peninsula. It is 8–9 cm long, and weighs approximately 3-4 grams.

Xantus's hummingbird
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Basilinna
Species:
B. xantusii
Binomial name
Basilinna xantusii
Lawrence, 1860
Range of the Xantus' hummingbird in Baja California
Synonyms
  • Hylocharis xantusii

Appearance

Adults are colored predominantly green on their upper parts and back. The tail is mostly dark reddish-brown with faint black tips, but the inner two rectrices are green. The most prominent feature is the white eye stripe found in both males and females, and similar to the related White-eared Hummingbird. The stripe is further enhanced by a bolder black stripe that borders the lower side. Both genders share cinnamon-brown underparts including the undertail coverts, with the cinnamon covering the throat in the female, notably different to the contrasting white undertail coverts of the white-eared hummingbird. In the male the throat is an iridescent green, though it is often seen as black. The bill is reddish with a black tip and often slightly curved, unlike the often straight bill of the white-eared hummingbird. The crown is often slightly greenish, but it appears black at many angles.

Ecology

The breeding habitat occurs in various habitats of southern Baja Peninsula of Mexico where it is considered endemic. It has been recorded as a vagrant up the Pacific coast of North America to British Columbia in Canada.

The Xantus' hummingbird feeds on nectar from flowers and flowering trees using a long extendable tongue or catches insects on the wing.

This hummingbird was named after John Xantus de Vesey (Xantus János), a Hungarian zoologist.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Hylocharis xantusii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)



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