HUMMINGBIRDS OF CENTRAL AMERICA

Bumblebee Hummingbird

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Atthis Heloisa

Males have metallic bronze-green upperparts, bronze-green central pair of rectrices that sometimes have a dusky tip, basally edged with cinnamon rufous.

The sides of their head are brownish-gray, shading into dull white on the malar region and a postocular spot, brilliant metallic magenta-purple chin, and throat with a bluish-purple shading, and dull white breast, belly and undertail coverts, cinnamon rufous flanks, overlaid by metallic bronze or bronze-green.

Females are similar to the males, but have a more extensive black in the tail, with reduced cinnamon rufous. They have a white chin and throat, spotted with metallic bronze.

Their underparts are similar to the males, but have flanks that are more extensively and uniformly cinnamon rufous and undertail coverts that are more or less strongly tinged with cinnamon rufous.

BILL: black, short and straight.

SIZE: average length of about 2.75 inches.

WEIGHT: weighs about 3 grams.

COLOR: bronze-green, cinnamon rufous, brownish-gray, dull-white, white, black, metallic magenta purple, and bluish purple.

NECTAR from a variety of brightly colored, scented small flowers of trees, herbs, shrubs, and epiphytes.

INSECTS small spiders and insects.

Humid to semi-humid pine-oak forest, evergreen forest, forest edge, humid montane scrub, and clearings.

Hovering, while feeding from flowers. much less aggressive and will often utilize territories established by other hummingbirds, remaining as unobtrusive as possible, when competition with other hummingbird species is less intense.

NEST: small cup-shaped nest made plant fibers (about 1 inch or 3 cm in diameter), with spider webbing, the outside is typically covered with moss built in in a protected location in a shrub, bush or tree.

EGGS: 2 pea-sized white eggs.

INCUBATION: 14 to 16 days, female only.

Predominantly found in Mexico, but has occurred as a vagrant in the United States (Arizona). Dispersed through both the Pacific and Atlantic inclines (from southern Chihuahua to southern Oaxaca and from southern Tamaulipas to northern Oaxaca, respectively) and within the focal area of the nation along the Transvolcanic belt to Oaxaca.

The Bumblebee Hummingbird, also known as Heloise’s or Morcom's Hummingbird is the second-smallest bird.

REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/

                         https://www.beautyofbirds.com/

                         https://www.sdakotabirds.com/