GREEN VIOLETEAR & SPECKLED HUMMINGBIRD. Colibri thalassinus & Adelomyia melanogenys above Tandayapa in ECUADOR. Photo by Peter Wendelken.
GREEN VIOLETEAR Colibri thalassinus and SPECKLED HUMMINGBIRD Adelomyia melanogenys. These two hummingbird species, the Green Violetear and the Speckled Hummingbird, are showing interspecific aggressive behavior above flowering bushes with yellow flowers at which both species feed on nectar. This occurred at the Pacha Quindi Nature Refuge near the top of a mountain ridge above Tandayapa in northwestern Ecuador at 1:04 PM on September 6, 2018. At one point the two hummingbirds became entangled and fell into a bush where both struggled against each other.
These two Hummingbird species belong to the family Trochilidae. The Speckled Hummingbird is found in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Perú and Bolivia. The Green Violetear lives from southern Mexico south through Central America to Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Bolivia to extreme northwestern Argentina.
Un Colibrí Orejivioláceo Verde Colibri thalassinus y un Colibrí Jaspeado Adelomyia melanogenys, cerniendose muy de cerca, están mostrando comportamiento agresivo interespecífico por encima de unos arbustos cuyos flores amarillos tienen nectár de que las dos especies beben. La foto se sacó cerca de una cresta montañosa por encima de Tandayapa en el noroeste de Ecuador a la 1 y 4 de la tarde el 6 de septiembre de 2018.
No Flash - I never use flash!
For OPTIMAL DETAILED VIEWING of these two Hummingbird Species , VIEW AT THE GIANT SIZE (2376 x 1600) using the direct Flickr link: www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/32782...
TO SEE 58 SPECIES OF HUMMINGBIRDS PLEASE VISIT MY HUMMINGBIRD ALBUM (SET) AT www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/sets/....
Some splitters, having nothing better to do, recently made a very dubious split of the Green Violetear into two different (barely different) species. This flimsily motivated split was based on no new evidence. The first "new species" resulting from this ludicrous split was presented with the common name "Mexican Violetear" - a ridiculous name for the alleged new species whose range extends from southern Mexico through Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to north central Nicaragua. This bogus species still uses the name Colibri thalassinus. The second "new species" was awarded the pitiful and disdainful common name "Lesser Violetear" which is an affront to hummingbirds everywhere. There is nothing "lesser" about it. It was given the scientific name Colibri cyanotus and its range extends from Costa Rica to Argentina. If the splitters would take the trouble to do some actual field work and travel to San Gerardo de Dota along the Río Savegre in the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica, they could readily observe Green Violetears with substantial blue coloration on their breasts, a finding which would blow up their entire specious rational for the split which was minor color differences which could easily be attributed to normal geographic variation within a species. I roundly reject this split.
GREEN VIOLETEAR & SPECKLED HUMMINGBIRD. Colibri thalassinus & Adelomyia melanogenys above Tandayapa in ECUADOR. Photo by Peter Wendelken.
GREEN VIOLETEAR Colibri thalassinus and SPECKLED HUMMINGBIRD Adelomyia melanogenys. These two hummingbird species, the Green Violetear and the Speckled Hummingbird, are showing interspecific aggressive behavior above flowering bushes with yellow flowers at which both species feed on nectar. This occurred at the Pacha Quindi Nature Refuge near the top of a mountain ridge above Tandayapa in northwestern Ecuador at 1:04 PM on September 6, 2018. At one point the two hummingbirds became entangled and fell into a bush where both struggled against each other.
These two Hummingbird species belong to the family Trochilidae. The Speckled Hummingbird is found in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Perú and Bolivia. The Green Violetear lives from southern Mexico south through Central America to Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Bolivia to extreme northwestern Argentina.
Un Colibrí Orejivioláceo Verde Colibri thalassinus y un Colibrí Jaspeado Adelomyia melanogenys, cerniendose muy de cerca, están mostrando comportamiento agresivo interespecífico por encima de unos arbustos cuyos flores amarillos tienen nectár de que las dos especies beben. La foto se sacó cerca de una cresta montañosa por encima de Tandayapa en el noroeste de Ecuador a la 1 y 4 de la tarde el 6 de septiembre de 2018.
No Flash - I never use flash!
For OPTIMAL DETAILED VIEWING of these two Hummingbird Species , VIEW AT THE GIANT SIZE (2376 x 1600) using the direct Flickr link: www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/32782...
TO SEE 58 SPECIES OF HUMMINGBIRDS PLEASE VISIT MY HUMMINGBIRD ALBUM (SET) AT www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/sets/....
Some splitters, having nothing better to do, recently made a very dubious split of the Green Violetear into two different (barely different) species. This flimsily motivated split was based on no new evidence. The first "new species" resulting from this ludicrous split was presented with the common name "Mexican Violetear" - a ridiculous name for the alleged new species whose range extends from southern Mexico through Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to north central Nicaragua. This bogus species still uses the name Colibri thalassinus. The second "new species" was awarded the pitiful and disdainful common name "Lesser Violetear" which is an affront to hummingbirds everywhere. There is nothing "lesser" about it. It was given the scientific name Colibri cyanotus and its range extends from Costa Rica to Argentina. If the splitters would take the trouble to do some actual field work and travel to San Gerardo de Dota along the Río Savegre in the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica, they could readily observe Green Violetears with substantial blue coloration on their breasts, a finding which would blow up their entire specious rational for the split which was minor color differences which could easily be attributed to normal geographic variation within a species. I roundly reject this split.