Snowcap
Encyclopedia
The Snowcap is a small hummingbird
which is a resident breeder in Honduras
, Nicaragua
, Costa Rica
and western Panama
. It is the only member of the genus Microchera.
Its habitat is the canopy and edges of wet forest, and it will also use adjacent more open woodland. It occurs mainly on the Caribbean
mountain slopes, breeding mainly at heights of 300–800 m. After breeding, most descend
to the adjacent lowlands, but some may wander up to heights of 1400 m.
The nest is a small cup of plant down and cobwebs decorated with green moss or lichen
, which is attached to a small twig or vine. The two white elongated eggs are incubated for just over two weeks, and the female feeds the young on regurgitated nectar and insects.
This is a tiny hummingbird, 6.5 cm long and 2.5 g in weight, with a short black bill and black legs. The adult male Snowcap is unmistakable. It has the shining white cap which gives this species its English
and scientific names, a deep purple body, and white outer tail feathers. The adult female is bronze-green above, dull white below, and has dull white outer tail feathers. She has more white below than other female hummingbirds.
Juvenile Snowcaps resemble the adult female, but are duller, have greyer underparts, and bronzed central tail feathers. The purple plumage of young males starts on the underparts as a striking dark central line.
The male Snowcap defends his feeding territory against others of the same species, but is readily displaced by larger hummingbirds. The call of this species is a high-pitched tsip, and the male’s song is a warbling tsitsup tsitsup tsitsup tsuu ttsee.
These birds usually visit small flowers of vines, trees and epiphyte
s for nectar, and also take some insect
s, especially when feeding young.
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
which is a resident breeder in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and western Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. It is the only member of the genus Microchera.
Its habitat is the canopy and edges of wet forest, and it will also use adjacent more open woodland. It occurs mainly on the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
mountain slopes, breeding mainly at heights of 300–800 m. After breeding, most descend
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
to the adjacent lowlands, but some may wander up to heights of 1400 m.
The nest is a small cup of plant down and cobwebs decorated with green moss or lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
, which is attached to a small twig or vine. The two white elongated eggs are incubated for just over two weeks, and the female feeds the young on regurgitated nectar and insects.
This is a tiny hummingbird, 6.5 cm long and 2.5 g in weight, with a short black bill and black legs. The adult male Snowcap is unmistakable. It has the shining white cap which gives this species its English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and scientific names, a deep purple body, and white outer tail feathers. The adult female is bronze-green above, dull white below, and has dull white outer tail feathers. She has more white below than other female hummingbirds.
Juvenile Snowcaps resemble the adult female, but are duller, have greyer underparts, and bronzed central tail feathers. The purple plumage of young males starts on the underparts as a striking dark central line.
The male Snowcap defends his feeding territory against others of the same species, but is readily displaced by larger hummingbirds. The call of this species is a high-pitched tsip, and the male’s song is a warbling tsitsup tsitsup tsitsup tsuu ttsee.
These birds usually visit small flowers of vines, trees and epiphyte
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
s for nectar, and also take some insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, especially when feeding young.
External links
- Snowcap photo; Article w/RangeMaps Infonatura NatureServe