Fork tailed Woodnymph (Thalurania furcata)

Fork-tailed-Woodnymph

Subspecies

Genus	Species	subspecies	Breeding Range	Breeding Range 2	Non Breeding Range
Thalurania	furcata		SA	widespread
Thalurania	furcata	baeri		ne and c Brazil to se Bolivia and nw and nc Argentina
Thalurania	furcata	balzani		nc Brazil s of the Amazon
Thalurania	furcata	boliviana		se Peru, ne Bolivia
Thalurania	furcata	eriphile		se Brazil, Paraguay and ne Argentina
Thalurania	furcata	fissilis		se Venezuela, wc Guyana and Roraima (nc Brazil)
Thalurania	furcata	furcata		ec Venezuela through the Guianas to ne Brazil
Thalurania	furcata	furcatoides		e Brazil s of the Amazon
Thalurania	furcata	jelskii		e Peru and w Brazil
Thalurania	furcata	nigrofasciata		se Colombia, s Venezuela and nw Brazil
Thalurania	furcata	orenocensis		upper Orinoco (s Venezuela)
Thalurania	furcata	refulgens		Paria Pen. and Sierra de CumanÃ¡ (ne Venezuela)
Thalurania	furcata	simoni		se Peru and sw Brazil
Thalurania	furcata	viridipectus		e Colombia, e Ecuador and ne Peru

Physical charateristics

The male has a glittering green throat with violet across the belly and in a narrow band across the back of the neck. Otherwise it is bronzy green above and it has white on its thighs. The female is pale grey below and has white tips on the outer three tail feathers. The bill is black and medium sized but it is variously described as “straight”, “essentially straight” or “slightly decurved”. This may be a function of the differences between subspecies of which there are 13

Listen to the sound of Fork-tailed Woodnymph

[audio:http://www.aviflevoland.nl/sounddb/F/Fork-tailed Woodnymph.mp3]

Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto

wingspan min.:	0	cm	wingspan max.:	0	cm
size min.:	9	cm	size max.:	10	cm
incubation min.:	0	days	incubation max.:	0	days
fledging min.:	0	days	fledging max.:	0	days
broods:	0		eggs min.:	0
			eggs max.:	0

Range

The Fork-tailed Woodnymph is found east of the Andes from north east Venezuela to norther Argentina but is missing from the extreme south of Brazil. In Suriname considered the most common forest hummingbird, confined to the interior.

Habitat

Humid forest and forest edges, taller second growth and semi-open shaded plantations and gardens.

Reproduction

No data available

Feeding habits

It likes forest and forest edge habitat and is also found in semi-open areas and gardens. It feeds on both nectar and insects (small flies and ants).

Conservation

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 11,000,000 kmÂ². The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as ‘common’ in at least parts of its range (Stotz et al. 1996). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern

Fork-tailed Woodnymph status Least Concern

Migration

Sedentary throughout range

Distribution map

Literature

Title GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION AND SPECIES LIMITS IN MIDDLE AMERICAN WOODNYMPHS (THALURANIA)

Author(s): PATRICIA ESCALANTE-PLIEGO AND A. TOWNSEND PETERSON

Abstract: We analyzed geographic variation in morphology and..[more]..

Source: Wilson Bull., 104(2), 1992, pp. 205-219

download full text (pdf)

]]>

Planet of Birds