Ruby-topaz hummingbird

The ruby-topaz hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus), commonly referred to simply as the ruby topaz, is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae, the mangoes. It is found in Aruba, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Colombia, Curaçao, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.<ref name=IOC11.2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=SACCcountries>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=HBW2020>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Taxonomy

The ruby-topaz hummingbird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Trochilus mosquitus.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The type locality is Suriname.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The ruby-topaz hummingbird is now the only species placed in the genus Chrysolampis, which was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1831.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name Chrysolampis is from the Ancient Greek khrusolampis meaning "glow-worm". The specific name mosquitus is a Spanish diminutive and means "little fly".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<ref name=IOC11.2/>

Description

The ruby-topaz hummingbird is Template:Convert long and weighs Template:Convert. Its almost straight, black bill is relatively short compared to those of most other hummingbirds. The male has dark brown upperparts with an olive gloss. Its crown and nape are glossy ruby red, and the throat and breast are usually iridescent golden though sometimes emerald green. The rest of the underparts are brown and the chestnut tail is tipped black.<ref name="NOPO-BOW">Template:Cite journal</ref>

The female ruby-topaz hummingbird has bronze-green upperparts and pale grey underparts. The tail is mostly chestnut with a dark subterminal band and a white tip; the central feathers are olive green. Females on Trinidad and Tobago sometimes have a greenish throat-streak (it may appear dark). Juvenile females are similar to adult females, but with a white-tipped dusky-brown tail. Juvenile males resemble the juvenile female, but with a variable amount of iridescent orange to the throat.<ref name="NOPO-BOW"/>

Distribution and habitat

The ruby-topaz hummingbird is found from eastern Panama east through northern Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guianas into northeastern Brazil. From there it is found through central and eastern Brazil as far south as Mato Grosso and westward into eastern Bolivia. In Colombia its range extends southward between the three Andes ranges, and it is also found in the ABC Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.<ref name=IOC11.2/><ref name="NOPO-BOW"/> It has been recorded as a vagrant in Argentina and Peru and there is at least one unconfirmed sight record in Paraguay.<ref name=SACCcountries/>

The ruby-topaz hummingbird inhabits the interior and edges of open savanna-like landscapes and shrubby arid hillsides; it is found in gardens and cultivated areas as well. It mostly occurs below Template:Convert of elevation but is found as high as Template:Convert.<ref name="NOPO-BOW"/>

Behavior

Movement

The ruby-topaz hummingbird is migratory, though its movement pattern and timing vary across its range and are not well defined. It appears to move north and south in Brazil and east and west along the north coast of South America and the offshore islands.<ref name="NOPO-BOW"/>

Feeding

The ruby-topaz hummingbird feeds on nectar from a wide variety of flowering shrubs, trees, epiphytes, cacti,<ref name="Auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and crops. However, they prefer the flowers of the samaan tree and the Ixora plant since these flowers have a high sugar content.<ref name="Auto"/> Males defend feeding territories. The species also catches small insects and spiders<ref name="Auto"/> on the wing and sometimes gleans them from within foliage.<ref name="NOPO-BOW"/>

Breeding

The ruby-topaz hummingbird's breeding season varies across its range. In the northern part it spans from December to June and in much of Brazil from September to March. The female makes a tiny cup nest of fine plant fibers and spider silk decorated on the outside with lichens. It places it on a branch or in a branch fork, typically between Template:Convert above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs. The incubation time is 15 to 16 days with fledging usually 19 to 22 days after hatch, though sometimes as long as 28 days.<ref name="NOPO-BOW"/>

Vocalization

The ruby-topaz hummingbird's song is "a doubled 'tliii...tliii...tliii'", which is usually given from a high perch.<ref name="NOPO-BOW"/>

Status

The IUCN has assessed the ruby-topaz hummingbird as being of Least Concern, though its population size and trend are unknown.<ref name=IUCN/> It is a "[c]ommon resident in the lowlands and coastal ranges" and "[r]eadily accepts man-made habitats".<ref name="NOPO-BOW"/>

Gallery

• 
  Male in flight
• 
  Male in flight
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  Female in flight
• 
  Female (left)
• 
  Male
• 
  Male by Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707–1788)

Further reading

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Template:Wikispecies-inline
• The Hummingbird Society - photographs of this and other hummingbird species
• Template:Usurped (for Brazil, Guyana, Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, Venezuela) with RangeMap
• Ruby-topaz Hummingbird photo gallery Template:Webarchive VIREO