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Rufous-vented Whitetip Urosticte ruficrissa Scientific name definitions

Karl-Ludwig Schuchmann and Peter F. D. Boesman
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 1999

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

Rufous-vented Whitetips inhabit the understory of humid montane forests, especially in semi-open areas. They forage at low or mid levels of the forest on nectar and insects and sometimes migrate to higher elevations after the breeding season. These medium-sized hummingbirds are green above and have a white spot behind the eye. Males have a large white spot on their forked tails, formed by the white lower halves of the central tail feathers. Females’ tails are bronzy green with white tips.

Field Identification

9–10 cm; 4–4·2 g. Male has medium-sized straight bill, black; upperparts shining green; white postocular streak; underparts shining green, undertail-coverts buffy; tail dusky bronze, deeply forked, central rectrices broadly tipped white. Female shining green above; white below with green spots, glittering on throat; tail dusky bronze, forked, outermost feathers broadly tipped white. Immature similar to adult female but with brown-edged head feathers.

Systematics History

Has been considered conspecific with U. benjamini on grounds of intermediate characters of birds from NE Peru, named as race intermedia; however, intermedia appears to represent merely a mutant phenotype within that population, having no connection with U. benjamini and no taxonomic validity (1). Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Amazonian slope of SC Andes of Colombia (Huila, SE Nariño) S to NE Peru (N San Martín) (1).

Habitat

Humid, partly open mountain forest (including cloudforest) and forest edges from 1600 m to 2400 m. Forages from low to middle strata.

Movement

Sedentary, with local movements to higher altitudes after the reproductive period.

Diet and Foraging

Nectar of flowering Clusia, Palicourea and bromeliads. Insects are caught in the air by hawking, occasionally by gleaning from leaves.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

A mellow, fast twittering “tweetweetweetwee...”, also described as a laughing chatter. Calls include a single lower-pitched scratchy note “tzrrrrr” (sounding buzzier than U. benjamini) while feeding in flight.

Breeding

Jan–Apr. Compact cup-shaped nest is built of moss in vines, 2–4 m above the ground. Clutch size 2; incubation 15–18 days, by female; chick is blackish with sparse buffy dorsal down; fledging period 22–24 days (data from captive birds). First breeding in second year.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. CITES II. Restricted-range species: present in Colombian Inter-Andean Slopes EBA and Ecuador-Peru East Andes EBA. Generally uncommon throughout its range. Protected by national parks and nature reserves in most of its Colombian habitats; situation in Ecuador is more precarious due to heavy logging activities in areas of cloudforest.
Distribution of the Rufous-vented Whitetip - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Rufous-vented Whitetip

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Schuchmann, K.L. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Rufous-vented Whitetip (Urosticte ruficrissa), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ruvwhi1.01
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