Violet-headed Hummingbird Klais guimeti Scientific name definitions

The Violet-headed Hummingbird is a diminutive resident of a variety of humid forests from Honduras and Venezuela south to Bolivia and has a very patchy distribution. In the north, it is primarily found in lowlands and foothills but in the Andes is only found in foothills and montane humid forest, intriguingly, it is also record from isolated uplands in Amazonia. It is fairly common in the interior of humid forest where it visits mostly small flowers at a variety of trees but will also sally from perches to catch small flying insects.

7·5–8·5 cm; male 2·9 g, female 2·7–2·9 g (1 King, J. R. (1991). Body weights of some Ecuadorean birds. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 111(1):46–49. Close ). Bill of female averages slightly longer, but male has significantly longer wings and tail; bill black. Bronzy-green above, pale grey below; entire head (male) or crown (female) violet-blue; square white postocular spot more prominent than in other small hummingbirds; lateral rectrices black, subterminally tipped with dull white, more broadly in female. Young bird resembles adult female but with little (male) or no (female) blue or violet on crown (2 Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino (2006). Birds of Northern South America: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Racial variation is relatively slight: both sexes of race merrittii have crown distinctly bluish rather than violet; underparts of pallidiventris are paler than those of other races. Recently discovered population in C Andes of Colombia appears to differ from named subspecies in several respects, but more work required (3 Cuervo, A. M., P. C. Pulgarín, and D. Calderón (2008). New distributional bird data from the Cordillera Central of the Colombian Andes, with implications for the biogeography of northwestern South America. Condor 110(3):526–537. Close ).

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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.

Canopy and edge of tall humid forest, tall second growth, tree plantations, shaded gardens and hedgerows in foothills and adjacent lowlands; mostly below 600 m (Honduras); 50–1200 m (Costa Rica); 400–1800 m, but mainly below 1450 m (2 Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino (2006). Birds of Northern South America: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) (Colombia), 400–1300 m (Venezuela) and 800–1700 m (Ecuador) (2 Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino (2006). Birds of Northern South America: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Basically sedentary, but performs some local movements in response to changing flower availability.

Visits mostly small flowers of a variety of trees (Inga, Warscewiczia, Hamelia, Hampea, Vismia), shrubs (Cephaelis, Psychotria, Besleria, Sabicea, Stachytarpheta) and epiphytes (Columnea, Cavendishia, bromeliads); male often territorial at flowers outside breeding season when not supplanted by larger, more aggressive species. Sallies from perch to catch flies and gnats, gleans foliage for arthropods, especially along edges and streams.

Male gives repeated high-pitched song comprising just two notes, “pip seet”, sometimes from high perch, but usually at leks; also utters sharp “tsit tsit” in flight (2 Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino (2006). Birds of Northern South America: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Mainly during dry season, Jan–May in Costa Rica. During breeding season males typically in leks of up to ten but occasionally solitary. Nest a tiny, thick-walled cup of green moss and cobwebs, lined with soft plant down, typically on pendent twig or vine overhanging shaded stream, less often in forest understorey far from water, 1–5 m above ground. Clutch size two eggs; incubation at least 16 days, by female, with on-bouts averaging 40·6 minutes and off-bouts 15·2 minutes, and overall nest attentiveness of 72% (4 Skutch, A. F. (1958) Life history of the Violet-headed Hummingbird. Wilson Bulletin 70: 5–19. Close );. No further information.

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Common in many areas in Central America, such as La Selva Biological Station and Rara Avis reserve in Costa Rica; fairly common to uncommon in E Honduras; rare and possibly local in Colombia. Present in Corcovado and Braulio Carrillo National Parks and Golfito National Wildlife Refuge (Costa Rica), Los Katíos National Park (Colombia) and Guatopo National Park (Venezuela). Recently removed from Brazilian list, as purported records from Roraima and W Amazonas are both extremely unlikely (and potentially fraudulent) (5 Pacheco, J.F. (1995). O Brasil perde cinco espécies de aves! Uma análise crítica dos registros de Ruschi para alguns beija-flores das fronteiras setentrionais brasileiras. Atualidades Ornitológicas. 66: 7. Close ).