Mountain-gem
| Mountaingem | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Purple-throated mountaingem (Lampornis calolaemus) ♀ in Costa Rica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Trochilidae |
| Subfamily: | Trochilinae |
| Genus: |
Lampornis Swainson, 1827 |
| Species | |
|
6-8, see text |
|
6-8, see text
The mountaingems are the Lampornis genus of hummingbirds which inhabit mountainous regions from the southwestern United States to the Isthmus of Panama.
These are medium-sized to large (10–13 cm) hummingbirds with shortish slightly curved black bills. The males typically have green upperparts and a brightly coloured throat, which is a dull colour in the female. The females of some species also may differ significantly from the males in other plumage features.
The female mountaingem is entirely responsible for nest building and incubation. She lays two white eggs in a deep plant-fibre cup nest. Incubation takes 15–19 days, and fledging another 20-26.
The food of this genus is nectar, taken from a variety of small flowers. Like other hummingbirds, mountaingems also takes small insects as an essential source of protein.
6-8 species have been traditionally recognized, the main point of dispute being whether the southern forms which have fulvous-breasted females, found from Nicaragua to Panama, are one ("variable mountaingem"), two, or three species. Analysis of biogeography and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences by García-Moreno et al. (2006) have largely confirmed the arrangement and the suspected evolutionary relationships, but a few surprising results have emerged:
First, the white-throated mountaingem and the gray-tailed mountaingem are probably conspecific, but the purple-throated mountaingem seems to be a distinct species. However, the southern group has apparently evolved in a very short time and their conspicuous differences in appearance are not yet reflected in molecular divergence; as mates are of course chosen according to their appearance and not their molecular differences, it seems prudent to split the group according to throat color as advocated by the American Ornithologists' Union. However, the speciation process is ongoing.
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Wikipedia