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Buff-bellied hummingbird

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sagabot (talk | contribs) at 00:08, 25 February 2007 (re-categorisation per CFD , replaced: Category:Avifauna of the Yucatán → Category:Birds of Mexico). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Scientific classification
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A. yucatanensis
Binomial name
Amazilia yucatanensis
(Cabot, 1845)

The Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Amazilia yucatanensis, is a medium-sized hummingbird. It is 10-11 cm long, and weighs 4-5 g.

Adults are a metallic olive green above and buffy in the lower breast. The tail and primary wings are rufous in color and slightly forked. The underwing is white. The bill of the male is straight and very slender. It is red in coloration with a darker tip. The throat is a metallic golden green. The female has a dark upper bill, and is less colorful than the male.

The breeding habitat is in forests and thickets from the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas of the United States through the Yucatán Peninsula of eastern Mexico, ending in northern Belize and northwestern Guatemala in Central America. It prefers pine-oak forests, semi-arid scrub and thickets along watercourses. The female builds a nest in a protected location in a shrub or tree. Both males and females of any age aggressively defend feeding locations within his or her territory. Females lay two white eggs.

This hummingbird is partially migratory. The Buff-bellied Hummingbird winters in small numbers along the Gulf Coast of the United States from Texas to the Florida panhandle.

These birds feed on nectar from flowers and flowering trees using a long extendable tongue or they catch insects on the wing.

References

  • Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern