EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

The Jewel That Hums

Velvet-Purple Coronet (Boissonneaua jardini), Family Trochilidae
Mindo, Ecuador

Explanation:  In the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, in the wonderful hamlet of Mindo, is a hummingbird haven.  At a feeder is this astounding jewel, a Velvet-Purple Coronet -- the jewel, if you will, that hums.

Most, if not all, hummingbirds have a colorful iridescence to their feathers that likely provides signal to prospective mates, to identify their species to others, and perhaps acting as flash behavior to startle or distract potential predators, giving the hummingbird a brief chance for escape.  

But this species ... is at the top of this game.

Velvet-Purple Coronets are found only in a very thin sliver of the Andes Mountains in Columbia and northern Ecuador, South America.   

We had encountered this species in previous EPOW episode, having discovered the oddly crossed bill of at least one specimen ... as evident in the above photo and the photo below:

Finally, let's end here with Word of the Day:  chatoyant = varying in color when seen in different lights or from different angles (as with ... hummingbirds!).
  
  

Information:
    Loeffler-Henry, K., C. Kang, Y. Yip, T. Caro, T.N. Sherratt.  2018.  Flash behavior increases prey survival.  Behavioral Ecology 29(3):528-533.