Ruby-topaz Hummingbird Chrysolampis mosquitus Scientific name definitions

The Ruby-topaz Hummingbird is a much coveted gem of circum-Amazonian savanna habitats from Colombia east through Venezuela, the Guianas, south through Brazil and west to eastern Bolivia. It is a very small hummingbird, but with a brilliant ruby crown and nape, iridescent gold throat and breast and bright orange tail and is luckily, quite common throughout its range. It forages for the nectar of flowering shrubs from the understory to tree tops in open country but also in cultivated areas and gardens.

8–9·5 cm (1 Grantsau, R. (1988). Os Beija-flores do Brasil. Expressão e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Close ); 2·5–5 g (2 Junge, G. C. A., and G. F. Mees (1958). The avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago. Zoologische Verhandelingen 37(1):1–172. Close , 1 Grantsau, R. (1988). Os Beija-flores do Brasil. Expressão e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Close ). Male has short straight black bill; crown and nape shining ruby red (occasionally orange), back dark brown glossed dull olive; throat and breast  iridescent golden (occasionally emerald-green  ); rest of underparts brown  ; tail  rich chestnut tipped black . Female  has copper-green back  ; below pale grey  (on both Trinidad and Tobago, some birds have greenish-golden stripe from chin to breast); ­central tail feathers olive-green, the others rufous-chestnut with shining purple-black subter­minal band, tipped white; bill averages longer than that of male (3 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile similar to adult female; has white spot behind eye, outer tail dark violet, tipped white  . Non-adult male plumages might be easily confused with other hummingbirds, but for distinctive and unusual head shape, as well as presence of rufous in outer tail feathers (3 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

E Panama and W, N & C Colombia E through Venezuela to the Guianas, then S through NE & C Brazil (Pará to Pernambuco and S to Mato Grosso) to E Bolivia; also islands off N Venezuela coast from Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire E to Trinidad and Tobago.

Occurs in savanna-like vegetation (including campos rupestres) (5 Machado, C.G., Coelho, A.G., Santana, C.S. and Rodrigues, M. (2007). Beija-flores e seus recursos florais em uma área de campo rupestre da Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. Rev. Bras. Orn. 15(2): 267–279. Close ) and its edges (6 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin Brit Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ) from sea-level to shrubby arid hillsides at 1700 m, with migrants even recorded on river islands (6 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin Brit Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ); forages from low down to treetops in clearings, open country, gardens and cultivated areas. Most numerous below 500 m; birds at higher altitudes are currently not breeding.

Migratory. Arrives in S Cauca Valley, Colombia, in May and disappears in Sept; absent or rare in Trinidad & Tobago in Aug–Nov and has wandered N to Grenada (Sept 1962) and perhaps even the Grenadines; appears in Paraná, Brazil (where occasionally recorded on inshore islands) (7 Chebez, J.C., Castillo, R. and Güller, R. (2004). Notas sobre picaflores del noreste argentino. Hornero. 19(1): 1–5. Close ), in Oct and leaves in Apr, in which latter month there have been several recent records (since 2001) in NE Argentina (Misiones) (7 Chebez, J.C., Castillo, R. and Güller, R. (2004). Notas sobre picaflores del noreste argentino. Hornero. 19(1): 1–5. Close ), and is considered solely a wet-season visitor (Jan–May) to the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia (Brazil) (5 Machado, C.G., Coelho, A.G., Santana, C.S. and Rodrigues, M. (2007). Beija-flores e seus recursos florais em uma área de campo rupestre da Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. Rev. Bras. Orn. 15(2): 267–279. Close ); however, temporal status at some localities in Pernambuco is unclear (8 Las-Casas, F.M.G., Azevedo Júnior, S.M. and Dias Filho, M.M. (2012). The community of hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae) and the assemblage of flowers in a Caatinga vegetation. Braz. J. Biol.. 72(1): 51–58. Close ). Overall, within Brazil, N–S migration, with most records in Amazonia apparently referring to migrants, e.g. in Jaú National Park and the INPA reserves N of Manaus, on N bank of R Negro and Solimões, and the Serra dos Carajás, S of lower Amazon, with a recent (Apr) record from Acre, although an apparently resident population is present on the lower R Aracá, Amazonas (9 Guilherme, E. and Dantas, S.M. (2007). First record of Ruby Topaz Chrysolampis mosquitus in Acre, Brazil. Cotinga. 30: 84-85. Close ); along the coastal areas of the Guianas, Venezuela and Colombia presumably an E–W migration with southward tendency towards Cauca and Magdalena Valleys, Colombia. Recent (documented) records from N Bolivia (in Nov and Apr) are also strongly suggestive of migration (6 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin Brit Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ).

Nectar of flowering shrubs, cultivated crops, cacti  , small and large trees: Russelia, Cajanus, Isertia, Melocactus, Citharexylum, Samanea, Cordia, Palicourea (10 Justino, D.G., Maruyama, P.K. and Oliveira, P.E. (2012). Floral resource availability and hummingbird territorial behaviour on a Neotropical savanna shrub. Journal of Ornithology. 153(1): 189–197. Close ), Sarcopera (11 Crease, A. (2009). Avian range extensions from the southern headwaters of the río Caroní, Gran Sabana, Bolívar, Venezuela. Cotinga 31:5–19. Close ), Lantana (11 Crease, A. (2009). Avian range extensions from the southern headwaters of the río Caroní, Gran Sabana, Bolívar, Venezuela. Cotinga 31:5–19. Close ) and Inga (6 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin Brit Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ), as well as at least one liana, Arrabidaea (12 Guilherme, E., and S. M. Dantas (2011). Avifauna of the upper Purus River, state of Acre, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 19(2): 185–199. Close ). In Bahia, E Brazil, in a campo rupestre, this species was observed feeding on the following plants: Hohenbergia ramageana (Bromeliaceae), Camptosema coriaceum, Periandra mediterranea (Fabaceae), Prepusa montana (Gentianaceae), Humiria balsamifera (Humiriaceae), Cuphea ericoides (Lythraceae), Calliandra mucugeana, C. viscidula (Mimosaceae), Stachytarpheta crassifolia (Verbenaceae) and Vochysia pyramidalis (Vochysiaceae) (5 Machado, C.G., Coelho, A.G., Santana, C.S. and Rodrigues, M. (2007). Beija-flores e seus recursos florais em uma área de campo rupestre da Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. Rev. Bras. Orn. 15(2): 267–279. Close ), while at another locality, in the caatinga of Pernambuco, C. mosquitus was observed feeding at flowers of Tabebuia impetiginosa (Bignoniaceae), Tacinga palmadora (Cactaceae), Cnidoscolus halteris, Jatropha mollissima (Euphorbiaceae), Bauhinia cheilantha (Fabaceae) and Melochia tomentosa (Malvaceae) (8 Las-Casas, F.M.G., Azevedo Júnior, S.M. and Dias Filho, M.M. (2012). The community of hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae) and the assemblage of flowers in a Caatinga vegetation. Braz. J. Biol.. 72(1): 51–58. Close ); also Pavonia glazioviana (Malvaceae) in caatinga of Piauí (13 Olmos, F., and C. Albano (2012). As aves da região do Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brasil). Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 20(3):173–187. Close ). In one study, aggressive interactions at flowers involving C. mosquitus were mainly directed at conspecifics, rather than other species of hummingbirds (5 Machado, C.G., Coelho, A.G., Santana, C.S. and Rodrigues, M. (2007). Beija-flores e seus recursos florais em uma área de campo rupestre da Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. Rev. Bras. Orn. 15(2): 267–279. Close ), but at least locally dominates Chlorostilbon lucidus (8 Las-Casas, F.M.G., Azevedo Júnior, S.M. and Dias Filho, M.M. (2012). The community of hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae) and the assemblage of flowers in a Caatinga vegetation. Braz. J. Biol.. 72(1): 51–58. Close ). Small insects (e.g. Areneae) (14 Poulin, B., Lefebvre, G. and McNeil, R. (1994). Diets of land birds from northeastern Venezuela. Condor. 96(2): 354–367. Close ) are caught in the air by hawking. Occasionally seen foraging for arthropods among foliage along clearings and roads. Male defends feeding territories in flowering shrubs or trees.

Song  (given from high perch) is reportedly a high-pitched, doubled “tliii...tliii...tliii” (3 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Season Dec–Jun on Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Guianas; Sept–Mar  in Brazil. Tiny cup-shaped nest  of fine plant fibre and cobweb, outside decorated with lichen  and/or pieces of bark, is built in fork of small branch or on a branch (1 Grantsau, R. (1988). Os Beija-flores do Brasil. Expressão e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Close ), 1–4 m above ground, occasionally up to 8 m; nest height 30 mm, external diameter 40 mm, internal diameter 25 mm (1 Grantsau, R. (1988). Os Beija-flores do Brasil. Expressão e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Close ). Clutch size two white eggs  , size 11·8–14·2 mm × 8·4–9 mm, mass 0·45 g (2 Junge, G. C. A., and G. F. Mees (1958). The avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago. Zoologische Verhandelingen 37(1):1–172. Close , 1 Grantsau, R. (1988). Os Beija-flores do Brasil. Expressão e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Close ); incubation 15–16 days, by female; chick  black with sparse brownish dorsal down; fledging  in 19–22 days (although period as long as 28 days mentioned in some literature) (1 Grantsau, R. (1988). Os Beija-flores do Brasil. Expressão e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Close ). First breeding in second year.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Common resident in the lowlands and coastal ranges, with densities of at least 6–8 pairs/km² in shrub-like habitats of SW Trinidad. Readily accepts man-made habitats like gardens and cultivated areas. Present in Tayrona National Park (Colombia) and Serra da Capivara National Park (NE Brazil) (13 Olmos, F., and C. Albano (2012). As aves da região do Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brasil). Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 20(3):173–187. Close ). Until 1970 the most sought-after species of hummingbird for the international bird trade in Brazil; this has now been ended.