Family Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Near Threatened
White-tufted Sunbeam (Aglaeactis castelnaudii)
Taxonomy
French: Colibri de Castelnau German: Rotbrust-Andenkolibri Spanish: Colibrí condecorado
Taxonomy:
Trochilus Castelnaudii
Bourcier and Mulsant
, 1848,mountains near Cuzco, Peru
.
Subspecies and Distribution
A. c. regalis
J. T. Zimmer, 1951 – Northern White-tufted Sunbeam – Andes of C Peru (Huánuco, Pasco, Junín).
A. c. castelnaudii
Bourcier & Mulsant, 1848 – Southern White-tufted Sunbeam – Andes of Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Apurímac and Cuzco, in SC Peru.
Descriptive notes
12 cm; 7–8·5 g. Bill straight, black. Immediate impression is fuscous with tawny tail, the shining back is displayed when hovering. Male above fuscous-black with... read more
Voice
Calls include a repeated “tzit” and during chases a twittering series, “titi-tsreet-tsreet-tsreet”... read more
Habitat
Inhabits patches of evergreen montane forest in slightly drier zones and often at much greater... read more
Food and feeding
Takes nectar from flowers of Barnadesia, Berberis, Brachyotum, Centropogon, Labiatae, Lupinus... read more
Breeding
Not known.
Movements
Remains in the same area during short periods of heavy snow. However, seasonal habitat shifts may... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. CITES II. Restricted-range species: present in Peruvian High Andes EBA. Common at very few sites. It was,... read more
Closely related to A. cupripennis and perhaps A. aliciae. May be sister-species of A. pamela. Morphology suggests past gene flow with A. cupripennis, but now reproductively isolated. Two subspecies recognized.