Fawn-breasted brilliant
| Fawn-breasted brilliant | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Trochilidae |
| Genus: | Heliodoxa |
| Species: | H. rubinoides |
| Binomial name | |
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Heliodoxa rubinoides (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1846) |
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The fawn-breasted brilliant (Heliodoxa rubinoides) is a species of hummingbird. It is native to South America, where it occurs in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Other common names include lilac-throated brilliant in English and brillante pechigamuza, colibrí de vientre ocre, and diamante pechigamuza in Spanish.
The fawn-breasted brilliant is a member of the hummingbird family, Trochilidae.
There are 3 subspecies:
The bird is green above and an iridescent copper on the underparts. It has areas of fawn and green and copper spotting. The beak is long and slightly curved.
The fawn-breasted brilliant is native to the Andes, the various subspecies occupying different mountain slopes. It is somewhat uncommon, with a patchy distribution, but it is of least concern, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It lives in tropical forests.
The diet of the fawn-breasted brilliant mainly consists of nectar. It defends quality nectar flowers from other nectarivores, including insects such as bumblebees. When feeding it hovers before the flower or hangs from it, and inserts its tongue up to 13 times per second. It will also visit bird feeders and will drink water from fountains and bird baths. It takes small insects and spiders for extra protein. The female catches large quantities of insects during breeding because they are an important food for the chicks. The bird catches insect prey by hawking, picking them from plants, and plucking them from spider webs.
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Wikipedia