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390:. It is more common at openings in the forest and more open landscapes such as plantations than deep in the forest. In Costa Rica it breeds mostly at elevations between 300 and 800 m (980 and 2,600 ft) but locally as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft). In Panama it is found between 600 and 1,650 m (2,000 and 5,400 ft).
364:
differ by having less white on the tail feathers and a brighter coppery purple gloss to their upper- and underparts. Adult females of both subspecies have a metallic green back with bronze uppertail coverts. Their underparts are pale grayish white. Their central tail feathers are bronze and the outer
444:
in loose groups of up to six, singing from a perch and chasing other males. Females build a small cup nest of tree fern scales and plant down bound with spiderweb, with some moss and lichen on the outside. It is typically placed on a twig or dangling vine between 1.7 and 3 m (6 and 10 ft)
503:
has assessed the snowcap as being of Least
Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified by the IUCN. In Costa Rica it is locally common, but "severe deforestation threatens many parts of its range".
377:
is the more northerly and widely distributed of the two. It is found on the
Caribbean slope of Central America from southern Honduras through Nicaragua and Costa Rica and possibly into western Panama; it also occurs locally on Costa Rica's Pacific slope. The nominate
351:
The snowcap is 6.5 to 7 cm (2.6 to 2.8 in) long and weighs about 2.7 g (0.095 oz). Both sexes of both subspecies have a short black bill and black legs. Adult males of both subspecies have the white forehead and crown that give this species its
411:
Snowcaps forage for nectar at all heights of their habitat, from the understory to the canopy. Males defend feeding territories from other snowcaps but defer to larger hummingbirds. They typically take nectar from small flowers of
365:
ones mostly black with white at the base and on the tips. Immature males are like the adult female with the addition of a narrow white line above the eye and a gradual change of the whitish underparts to purplish black.
403:
In Costa Rica, snowcaps mostly descend to lower elevations after breeding but a few individuals wander higher than their breeding zone to about 1,400 m (4,600 ft).
625:
HBW and BirdLife
International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at:
360:. Their face and underparts are black with a reddish purple gloss. Their central tail feathers are metallic bronze and the rest have white bases and black ends. Males of
1106:
882:
356:
and scientific names. Males of the nominate subspecies have dark purple upperparts with a purplish black nape and a reddish gloss on the back, rump, and uppertail
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In Costa Rica snowcaps breed between
January and May; their season elsewhere has not been defined. Males court females at
1096:
1091:
807:
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712:
116:
926:
31:
657:), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
1101:
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445:
above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs; the incubation period and time to fledging are not known.
812:
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382:
is found on the
Caribbean and Pacific slopes of western Panama. The species inhabits humid lowland and
548:
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http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip
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tsitsup tsitsup tsitsup tsew ttttt-tsew or tsip-tsee tsippy tsippy tsippy tsip-tick tsew
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416:, shrubs, vines, and trees. In addition to feeding on nectar, snowcaps glean
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in the "emeralds", tribe
Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in
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The male snowcap's song is "a soft, sputtering, warbling melody:
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431:
Female
Snowcap photographed by Carole Turek of Hummingbird Spot
30:
This article is about the hummingbird. For other uses, see
599:
Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022).
1002:
731:
653:
Kistler, E. and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Snowcap (
549:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22687649A93162554.en
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420:from foliage, and males take small insects by
8:
327:. The nominate was originally described as
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649:
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639:
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487:." One call is "a soft, high-pitched, dry
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1107:Hummingbird species of Central America
659:https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.snowca1.01
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1117:Taxa named by George Newbold Lawrence
255:
7:
316:The snowcap has two subspecies, the
1082:IUCN Red List least concern species
535:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
675:A guide to the birds of Costa Rica
25:
706:
694:
453:
115:
524:BirdLife International (2016).
469:Listen to snowcap on xeno-canto
1:
386:, semi-open woodlands, and
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661:retrieved August 28, 2022
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112:Scientific classification
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93:
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629:retrieved August 7, 2022
542:: e.T22687649A93162554.
369:Distribution and habitat
312:Taxonomy and systematics
1112:Birds described in 1855
992:Microchera-albocoronata
763:Microchera albocoronata
733:Microchera albocoronata
701:Microchera albocoronata
655:Microchera albocoronata
528:Microchera albocoronata
333:Panychlora parvirostris
329:Mellisuga albo-coronata
285:Microchera albocoronata
234:Microchera albocoronata
18:Microchera albocoronata
1004:Mellisuga albocoronata
432:
343:
27:Species of hummingbird
677:by Stiles and Skutch
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341:
703:at Wikimedia Commons
571:"Appendices | CITES"
216:M. albocoronata
1097:Birds of Costa Rica
605:IOC World Bird List
65:Conservation status
1092:Birds of Nicaragua
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380:M. a. albocoronata
375:M. a. parvirostris
362:M. a. parvirostris
344:
325:M. a. parvirostris
321:M. a. albocoronata
288:) is a species of
266:M. a. parvirostris
258:M. a. albocoronata
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961:Open Tree of Life
725:Taxon identifiers
699:Media related to
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331:and the other as
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479:Vocalization
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935:Neotropical
870:iNaturalist
757:Wikispecies
373:Subspecies
347:Description
290:hummingbird
250:Subspecies
192:Trochilidae
182:Apodiformes
98:Appendix II
1087:Microchera
1076:Categories
1019:Q109578227
987:Xeno-canto
580:2022-01-14
508:References
418:arthropods
294:Costa Rica
203:Microchera
611:August 9,
575:cites.org
555:28 August
526:"Snowcap
414:epiphytes
302:Nicaragua
210:Species:
172:Strisores
135:Kingdom:
129:Eukaryota
1046:11285781
1013:Wikidata
974:Species+
914:22687649
888:10969313
800:22687649
795:BirdLife
784:BioLib:
742:Wikidata
607:. v 12.2
436:Breeding
399:Movement
394:Behavior
318:nominate
298:Honduras
242:Lawrence
188:Family:
149:Chordata
145:Phylum:
139:Animalia
125:Domain:
85:IUCN 3.1
44:Snowcap
32:Snow cap
1059:1149803
940:snowca1
862:5228586
849:snowca1
823:snowca1
772:Avibase
748:Q524681
713:Snowcap
422:hawking
407:Feeding
358:coverts
354:English
280:snowcap
244:, 1855)
198:Genus:
178:Order:
155:Class:
100: (
83: (
966:270246
927:472895
901:555183
681:
495:Status
306:Panama
304:, and
1033:8KQ26
979:10379
953:71933
883:IRMNG
844:eBird
836:42T35
820:BOW:
813:98072
787:23951
166:Clade
102:CITES
96:CITES
58:male
1054:ITIS
1041:GBIF
922:NCBI
909:IUCN
896:ITIS
875:6502
857:GBIF
808:BOLD
679:ISBN
613:2022
557:2022
540:2016
501:IUCN
499:The
489:tsip
442:leks
323:and
278:The
159:Aves
1028:CoL
831:CoL
544:doi
1078::
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282:(
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34:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.