Selasphorus calliope (USDA Forest Service)
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Superordo: Caprimulgimorphae
Ordo: Apodiformes
Familia: Trochilidae
Subfamilia: Trochilinae
Genus: Selasphorus
Species: Selasphorus calliope
Name
Selasphorus calliope (Gould, 1847)
Synonyms
Trochilus (Calothorax) calliope (protonym)
Stellula calliope
References
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London Pt.15: 11.
Vernacular names
català: Colibrí Cal·líope
Deutsch: Sternelfe
English: Calliope Hummingbird
Esperanto: Kaliopa kolibro
español: Colibrí calíope
suomi: Runokolibri
français: Colibri calliope
magyar: Rubinbegyű kolibri
italiano: Colibrì calliope
日本語: ヒメハチドリ
Nederlands: Calliopekolibrie
polski: Liliobrodzik
русский: Колибри-каллиопа
svenska: Kalliopekolibri
The calliope hummingbird (/kəˈlaɪ.əpi/ kə-LY-ə-pee; Selasphorus calliope)[3] is the smallest bird native to the United States and Canada.[4] It has a western breeding range mainly from California to British Columbia, and migrates to the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America for its wintering grounds.[4] It was previously considered the only member of the genus Stellula, but recent evidence suggests placement in the genus Selasphorus.[5] This bird was named after the Greek muse Calliope. The former genus name means "little star".
Description
The calliope is the smallest breeding bird found in Canada and the United States.[4] The only smaller species ever found in the U.S. is the bumblebee hummingbird, an accidental vagrant from Mexico. An adult calliope hummingbird can measure 7–10 cm (2.8–3.9 in) in length, span 11 cm (4.3 in) across the wings and weigh 2 to 3 g (0.071 to 0.106 oz).[6][7]
Calliope hummingbirds have glossy green on the back and crown with white underparts.[4] The adult male has wine-red streaks on the gorget, green flanks and a dark tail.[4] Females and immatures have a pinkish wash on the flanks, dark streaks on the throat and a dark tail with white tips. The only similar birds are the rufous hummingbird and the Allen's hummingbird, but these birds are larger with more distinct and contrasting rufous markings on tail and flanks, and longer central tail feathers.
Female feeding insects to chicks
Habitat and distribution
The breeding habitat of calliope hummingbird is varied among open shrub habitats and altitudes. Nesting usually occurs at higher altitudes in the Rocky Mountains. Nests have been observed from as low as 600 ft (180 m) in Oregon and Washington elevation to the tree line at over 11,000 ft (3,400 m).[6] In Montana, the minimum elevation observed for breeding is 1,200 m (3,900 ft).[4][7] Open montane forest, mountain meadows, and willow and alder thickets may variously serve as breeding grounds. During migration and winter, they also occur in chaparral, lowland brushy areas, deserts and semi-desert regions. They nest in western North America from southern British Columbia and Alberta south to Colorado and southern California. During spring and summer, they move, mainly through Arizona and New Mexico and northern Mexico, to winter in southwestern Mexico as well as in Guatemala and Belize.[citation needed]
Behavior
Calliope hummingbirds are a migratory bird, generally leaving their breeding grounds earlier than most birds (although not as early as the rufous hummingbird) to take advantage of the late-summer wildflowers in the mountains of western North America. They are believed to be the smallest-bodied long distance migrant in the world.[6]
These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue, drink sap from holes created by sapsuckers or catch insects on the wing. While collecting nectar, they also assist in plant pollination.[4] Plants preferred for pollinating include paintbrush, penstemon, columbine, trumpet gilia, and elephant head. They will also occasionally catch and eat small insects and spiders.[7]
Adult males usually arrive on the breeding ground before females, from mid-April to early May. The male claims and vigorously defends a nesting territory in which he will breed with many females. The male takes no part in raising the young and often actually vacates the breeding grounds by the time the young hatch. The female usually builds an open cup nest in a conifer tree under an overhanging branch, though apple and alder trees have also been used. The nest is often built on the base of large pine cones and somewhat resembles a pine cone itself. A nest may be used repeatedly over the course of several years. Two eggs are laid from late May to early July and are incubated for 15 to 16 days.[4] The young are capable of flight about 20 days after hatching.[7]
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A group of three calliope hummingbirds hovering at a feeder to create the "humming" sound from their rapid wingbeats, while chirping by vocalization
Humming
Main article: Hummingbird § Humming
The prominent humming sound of a calliope hummingbird – as for all hummingbirds during flight and hovering – derives from its rapid wingbeats while feeding or interacting with other hummingbirds.[8] Humming serves as an audible communication to alert other birds of the arrival of a fellow forager or potential mate.[8] The humming sound derives from aerodynamic forces generated by both the downstrokes and upstrokes of the rapid wingbeats, producing acoustic oscillations and harmonics.[8]
Courtship display and sonation
During courtship, a male calliope hummingbird hovers at accelerated wingbeat frequency up to 95 flaps per second (42% higher than normal hovering), creating a loud buzzing sound, with throat feathers protruding and facing a female.[4][9] The male then ascends temporarily to 20 meters and dives at high speed, with the rapid descent causing sonation of wing and tail feathers combined with vocalization, intending to attract attention of the female.[9] Research in a wind tunnel demonstrated that the male courtship display includes sounds produced by three independent feather or vocal components, each with different acoustic characteristics, thus potentially containing different messages appealing to the female.[9] The tail feathers flutter at high frequency and hit each other to produce the buzzing sound.[10]
A hovering male calliope
Temperature regulation
The high metabolic rate of calliope hummingbirds – especially during rapid forward flight and hovering – produces increased body heat that requires specialized mechanisms of temperature regulation for dissipating heat, which becomes an even greater challenge in hot, humid climates.[11] As the smallest North American hummingbird species, calliopes appear to adapt their relatively higher surface-to-volume ratio to improve convective cooling from air movement by the wings.[11] When air temperatures rise above 36 °C (97 °F), thermal gradients driving heat passively by convective dissipation from around the eyes, shoulders, and feet are reduced or eliminated, requiring heat dissipation mainly by evaporation and exhalation.[11]
All hummingbirds dissipate heat partially by exhaled air, and from body structures with thin or no feather covering, such as around the eyes, shoulders, under the wings (patagia), and feet.[12][13] While hovering, calliope hummingbirds do not benefit from the heat loss by air convection during forward flight, except for air movement generated by their rapid wing-beat, possibly aiding convective heat loss from the extended feet.[11][14]
Status
Many species of pollinators, including the calliope hummingbird, have shown decreases in certain populations. Little information is available on the overall issues that are causing these declines but possible threats include habitat loss, increased use of pesticides, and replacement of native plants by non-native plants (although, on the other hand, many hummingbirds benefit from non-native plants in gardens that provide additional food). The restricted wintering range of calliope hummingbirds makes the species more susceptible to natural disasters, diseases, or land use changes that could wipe out significant portions of the population. The calliope hummingbird has not been well studied, leaving much of its life history unknown.
References
BirdLife International (2019). "Selasphorus calliope". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22688232A155618669. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22688232A155618669.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
"Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
"Calliope". Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
"Calliope Hummingbird". National Audubon Society Birds. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
McGuire, J.A.; Witt, C.C.; Remsen Jr., J.V.; Dudley, R.; Altshuler, D.L. (2009). "A higher-level taxonomy for hummingbirds". Journal of Ornithology. 150: 155–165. doi:10.1007/s10336-008-0330-x. S2CID 1918245.
Calliope Hummingbird, Life History, All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved on 2012-08-22.
Calliope hummingbird Info. Imnh.isu.edu. Retrieved on 2012-08-22.
Hightower, Ben J; Wijnings, Patrick WA; Scholte, Rick; Ingersoll, Rivers; Chin, Diana D; Nguyen, Jade; Shorr, Daniel; Lentink, David (2021-03-16). "How oscillating aerodynamic forces explain the timbre of the hummingbird's hum and other animals in flapping flight". eLife. 10: e63107. doi:10.7554/elife.63107. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 8055270. PMID 33724182.
Clark CJ (2011). "Wing, tail, and vocal contributions to the complex acoustic signals of courting Calliope hummingbirds" (PDF). Current Zoology. 57 (2): 187–196. doi:10.1093/czoolo/57.2.187. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-16.
Clark, CJ (10 April 2014). "Harmonic Hopping, and Both Punctuated and Gradual Evolution of Acoustic Characters in Selasphorus Hummingbird Tail-Feathers". PLOS ONE. 9 (4): e93829. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...993829C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093829. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3983109. PMID 24722049.
Powers, Donald R.; Langland, Kathleen M.; Wethington, Susan M.; Powers, Sean D.; Graham, Catherine H.; Tobalske, Bret W. (2017). "Hovering in the heat: effects of environmental temperature on heat regulation in foraging hummingbirds". Royal Society Open Science. 4 (12): 171056. doi:10.1098/rsos.171056. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 5750011. PMID 29308244.
Evangelista, Dennis; Fernández, María José; Berns, Madalyn S.; Hoover, Aaron; Dudley, Robert (2010). "Hovering energetics and thermal balance in Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna)". Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. 83 (3): 406–413. doi:10.1086/651460. ISSN 1522-2152. PMID 20350142. S2CID 26974159.
Matt Soniak (2 February 2016). "Infrared video shows how hummingbirds shed heat through their eyes and feet". Mental Floss. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
Miklos D F Udvardy (1983). "The role of the feet in behavioral thermoregulation of hummingbirds" (PDF). Condor. 85 (3): 281–5. doi:10.2307/1367060. JSTOR 1367060.
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