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40:
106:
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379:. 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).
353:
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
433:
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)
492:
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".
366:
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
340:
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
400:
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
354:
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.
392:
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).
614:
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:
349:. 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
1095:
871:
345:
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
1085:
1080:
796:
751:
701:
105:
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20:
646:), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
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above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs; the incubation period and time to fledging are not known.
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is found on the
Caribbean and Pacific slopes of western Panama. The species inhabits humid lowland and
537:
39:
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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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405:, 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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1001:
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480:", and it makes "buzzy notes and chatters in aggressive interactions".
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The male snowcap's song is "a soft, sputtering, warbling melody:
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147:
711:
420:
Female
Snowcap photographed by Carole Turek of Hummingbird Spot
19:
This article is about the hummingbird. For other uses, see
588:
Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022).
991:
720:
642:
Kistler, E. and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Snowcap (
538:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22687649A93162554.en
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409:from foliage, and males take small insects by
8:
316:. The nominate was originally described as
708:
638:
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476:." One call is "a soft, high-pitched, dry
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1096:Hummingbird species of Central America
648:https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.snowca1.01
508:
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1106:Taxa named by George Newbold Lawrence
244:
7:
305:The snowcap has two subspecies, the
1071:IUCN Red List least concern species
524:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
664:A guide to the birds of Costa Rica
14:
695:
683:
442:
104:
513:BirdLife International (2016).
458:Listen to snowcap on xeno-canto
1:
375:, semi-open woodlands, and
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650:retrieved August 28, 2022
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101:Scientific classification
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82:
60:
51:
46:
37:
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618:retrieved August 7, 2022
531:: e.T22687649A93162554.
358:Distribution and habitat
301:Taxonomy and systematics
1101:Birds described in 1855
981:Microchera-albocoronata
752:Microchera albocoronata
722:Microchera albocoronata
690:Microchera albocoronata
644:Microchera albocoronata
517:Microchera albocoronata
322:Panychlora parvirostris
318:Mellisuga albo-coronata
274:Microchera albocoronata
223:Microchera albocoronata
993:Mellisuga albocoronata
421:
332:
16:Species of hummingbird
666:by Stiles and Skutch
419:
330:
692:at Wikimedia Commons
560:"Appendices | CITES"
205:M. albocoronata
1086:Birds of Costa Rica
594:IOC World Bird List
54:Conservation status
1081:Birds of Nicaragua
422:
369:M. a. albocoronata
364:M. a. parvirostris
351:M. a. parvirostris
333:
314:M. a. parvirostris
310:M. a. albocoronata
277:) is a species of
255:M. a. parvirostris
247:M. a. albocoronata
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950:Open Tree of Life
714:Taxon identifiers
688:Media related to
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320:and the other as
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258:(Lawrence, 1865)
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678:External links
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468:Vocalization
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924:Neotropical
859:iNaturalist
746:Wikispecies
362:Subspecies
336:Description
279:hummingbird
239:Subspecies
181:Trochilidae
171:Apodiformes
87:Appendix II
1076:Microchera
1065:Categories
1008:Q109578227
976:Xeno-canto
569:2022-01-14
497:References
407:arthropods
283:Costa Rica
192:Microchera
600:August 9,
564:cites.org
544:28 August
515:"Snowcap
403:epiphytes
291:Nicaragua
199:Species:
161:Strisores
124:Kingdom:
118:Eukaryota
1035:11285781
1002:Wikidata
963:Species+
903:22687649
877:10969313
789:22687649
784:BirdLife
773:BioLib:
731:Wikidata
596:. v 12.2
425:Breeding
388:Movement
383:Behavior
307:nominate
287:Honduras
231:Lawrence
177:Family:
138:Chordata
134:Phylum:
128:Animalia
114:Domain:
74:IUCN 3.1
33:Snowcap
21:Snow cap
1048:1149803
929:snowca1
851:5228586
838:snowca1
812:snowca1
761:Avibase
737:Q524681
702:Snowcap
411:hawking
396:Feeding
347:coverts
343:English
269:snowcap
233:, 1855)
187:Genus:
167:Order:
144:Class:
89: (
72: (
955:270246
916:472895
890:555183
670:
484:Status
295:Panama
293:, and
1022:8KQ26
968:10379
942:71933
872:IRMNG
833:eBird
825:42T35
809:BOW:
802:98072
776:23951
155:Clade
91:CITES
85:CITES
47:male
1043:ITIS
1030:GBIF
911:NCBI
898:IUCN
885:ITIS
864:6502
846:GBIF
797:BOLD
668:ISBN
602:2022
546:2022
529:2016
490:IUCN
488:The
478:tsip
431:leks
312:and
267:The
148:Aves
1017:CoL
820:CoL
533:doi
1067::
1045::
1032::
1019::
1004::
978::
965::
952::
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623:^
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271:(
229:(
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23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.