Berylline Hummingbird Saucerottia beryllina Scientific name definitions

This medium-sized hummingbird is found in the foothills and highlands in habitats including oak and pine-oak forests, forest edges, scrub, clearings with trees, thorn forests, and suburban gardens. During the breeding season, there is extensive variation in the height placement of nests by different pairs. Berylline Hummingbirds frequently gather in the tops of flowering trees with other hummingbirds where they demonstrate their dominance. Their rufous wing patches help distinguish them from Buff-bellied Hummingbirds (Amazilia yucatanensis) and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds (Amazilia tzacatl).

8–10 cm; male 4·4 g, female 4·0 g. Male has straight, medium-sized, blackish bill, except for pinkish basal half of mandible; bronze-green to coppery on head, back and rump; base of primaries and secondaries chestnut; underparts glittering golden green; uppertail-coverts and tail variable, often coppery to rufous. Female similar but has throat and belly paler, more greyish, and lacks pinkish bill base. Juvenile is similar to female but has less iridescence on throat; belly greyish cinnamon. Race viola has greyish tinge on back and rump, belly fawn to cinnamon, uppertail-coverts and rectrices dark violet-blue; lichten­steini is generally lighter green, wingband paler, rectrices silvery-coloured; <em>sumichrasti</em> closest to viola or nominate in duller green plumage (1 Weller, A.A. (1998). On types of trochilids in the Natural History Museum, Tring. I. Amazilia sumichrasti Salvin, in relation to morphology and biogeography within the A. beryllina complex. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 118(4): 249-256. Close ), but has somewhat purplish gloss to tail, female with silvery to purple inner rectrices, and wing longer than in lichtensteini (1 Weller, A.A. (1998). On types of trochilids in the Natural History Museum, Tring. I. Amazilia sumichrasti Salvin, in relation to morphology and biogeography within the A. beryllina complex. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 118(4): 249-256. Close ); devillei shows stronger bronze to coppery on back and rump, wingband paler, tail purplish to bronzy-chestnut. Hybrids between present species and Eugenes fulgens regularly seen in SE Arizona between late 1990s and 2007, being larger and longer-billed than S. beryllina, with less rufous in wings and a golden-toned rump and tail, while some birds have an intense blue crown and gorget (2 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ).

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Sometimes placed in genus Saucerottia. Closely related to S. cyanura; reports of hybridization in a small zone of sympatry in Guatemala and El Salvador seem to be unproven, and may be erroneously based on variable tail coloration of present species. Form sumichrasti, long ignored, has proved to represent a well-marked race. Individuals of extreme W subpopulation of nominate race exhibit intergradation towards viola in belly coloration. Proposed race motaguae (from E Guatemala) is invalid, as main distinguishing characters can be ascribed to juvenile or female plumage. Race devillei considered “as distinct as many recognized hummingbird species” (3 Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. Close ), but violet-purple vs bronzier-brown tail (score 2) and all glittering-green underparts vs glittering-green breast with greyish-cinnamon belly (2) appear to be only significant points of difference; further research desirable. Five subspecies recognized.

• Rivoli's x Berylline Hummingbird (hybrid) Eugenes fulgens x Saucerottia beryllina

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Rather dense oak and pine-oak forest and scrub, tropical deciduous forest, forest edges, thorn forest, clearings, open areas with scattered trees, riparian vegetation, plantations, urban parks (4 Ortega-Álvarez, R. and McGregor-Fors, I. (2010). What matters most? Relative effect of urban habitat traits and hazards on urban park birds. Ornitología Neotropical. 21(4): 519-533. Close ) and suburban gardens. Mainly found in arid habitats, less frequently in humid areas. Widespread in all altitudes from near sea-level to sub-montane zones, commonest between 500 and 1800 m (5 Navarro Sigüenza, A.G. (1992). Altitudinal distribution of birds in the Sierra Madre del Sur, Guerrero, Mexico. Condor 94(1): 29-39. Close ); nominate beryllina occasionally up to 3000 m; reports of breeding at even higher altitudes in Oaxaca are apparently in error (6 Forcey, J.M. and Aragón, R. (2009). Notes on Oaxacan birds. Huitzil. 10(2): 38–47. Close ).

Sedentary in many parts of the range, except for the extreme north where regular migrant, mainly southward. First recorded in USA in 1967; occasionally (but increasingly) occurs as wanderer or rare breeder (mainly since 1970s) in S Arizona, USA, where confirmed records date from late Apr to mid Oct (winter sightings unconfirmed), even more exceptionally in spring/summer (May to mid Jul) in SW New Mexico and W Texas, and very rare (Aug to early Sept) in autumn in W Texas (2 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Perhaps only a visitor to the Petén, Guatemala (7 Beavers, R. A., D. J. Delaney, C. W. Leahy, and G. F. Oatman (1991). New and noteworthy records from Petén, Guatemala, including Tikal National Park. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 111(2):77–90. Close ). Some altitudinal movements observed where birds occur at lower elevations after breeding.

Song varied, comprising slightly gruff, high-pitched twittering notes, preceded by 1–2 lisping introductory notes, the whole rendered “ssi kirr-i-rr kirr-i-rr”, “sirrr, ki-ti ki-dik” or “sssi-ir sssiir chit-chit chit-chit-chit...”, while race devellei (at least) gives squeaky “jer’eek ’r-eek” repeated 2–3 times; calls include a hard, buzzy “dzzzzir” or “drrzzzt”, and a more liquid “dzzzzrrt” that may be repeated several times at a steady rate (3 Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. Close ).

Chiefly Jun–Oct, in Oaxaca with peak in Sept. Nest-sites from low down to 15 m above ground in shrubs and trees such as Wigandia, pine and oak, in Arizona also in sycamore (Platanus). Nest rather solid, on horizontal branch, made of grass, plant fibres, cotton, and often with a conspicuous streak of grass blades near the bottom that are fixed with cobweb; outside decorated with pale-coloured lichens; measures 40–50 mm both in outside diameter and depth, inside depth of c. 15 mm and width of c. 26 mm. Clutch size two eggs; incubation by female; fledging at about 20 days.

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Very local and rare in SW USA, where apparently confined to Huachuca Mts and Chiricahua Mts of Arizona. Few records exist for the E slope of N Sierra Madre Occidental, with southward distribution at least as far as Barranca del Cobre National Park. Common resident along the Pacific slope and interior highlands from NW Mexico to Guatemala. Uncommon in arid Motagua Valley of NE Guatemala and in Tikal, where perhas only a visitor (7 Beavers, R. A., D. J. Delaney, C. W. Leahy, and G. F. Oatman (1991). New and noteworthy records from Petén, Guatemala, including Tikal National Park. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 111(2):77–90. Close ); less common along Atlantic slope from Mexico to C Honduras. Race lichtensteini has most restricted range, confined to Cerro Brujo, W Chiapas (Mexico).