Sword-billed hummingbird: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Species of bird from South America}}

| image = Sword-billed Hummingbirdhummingbird (male) at Guango Lodge, Ecuador (21310837273).jpg

| image_caption = Male in eastern Ecuador

| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |urlauthor=https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22687854/0BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Ensifera ensifera'' |authorvolume=BirdLife International2016 |author-linkpage=BirdLife Internationale.T22687854A93171973 |yeardoi=201210.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22687854A93171973.en |access-date=2612 November 20132021}}</ref>

| synonyms = '''''Ornismya ensifera''''' [[Auguste Boissonneau|Boissonneau]], 1840

The '''sword-billed hummingbird''' ('''''Ensifera ensifera'''''), also known as the '''swordbill''', is a [[Neotropical realm|neotropical]] species of [[hummingbird]] from the [[Andes|Andean]] regions of [[South America]]. It is the [[Monotypic taxon|only member]] in the [[genus]] '''''Ensifera.''''' andAmong the largest species of hummingbird, it is characterized by its unusually long [[Beak|bill]], being the only bird to have a beak longer than the rest of its body, excluding the tail. It uses its bill to drink [[nectar]] from flowers with long [[corolla (botany)|corolla]]s and has [[Coevolution|coevolved]] with the species ''[[Passiflora mixta]]''. While most hummingbirds [[preening (bird)|preen]] using their bills, the sword-billed hummingbird uses its feet to scratch and preen due to its bill being so long. It is among the species of largest hummingbird.

The sword-billed hummingbird was first [[Species description|described]] as ''Ornismya ensifera'' by [[Auguste Boissonneau]] in 1839 on the basis of specimens from [[Santa Fe, Bogotá|Santa Fé]], [[Bogotá|Bogota]], [[Colombia]].<ref>{{Cite book|lastlast1=Société Cuvierienne|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/161562|title=Revue zoologique|last2=Cuvierienne|first2=Société|date=1839|publisher=Société cuvierienne|volume=2|location=Paris}}</ref> It was moved to the genus ''Ensifera'' in 1843 by [[René Lesson]].<ref>{{Cite book|lastlast1=Cottrell|firstfirst1=G. William|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/50583|title=Check-list of birds of the world|last2=Greenway|first2=James C.|last3=Mayr|first3=Ernst|last4=Paynter|first4=Raymond A.|last5=Peters|first5=James Lee|last6=Traylor|first6=Melvin A.|last7=University|first7=Harvard|date=1945|publisher=Harvard University Press|volume=5|location=Cambridge}}</ref> The generic and specific name ''ensifera'' is derived from the [[Latin]] words ''[[wikt:ensis|ensis]]'' (sword) and ''[[wikt:ferre|ferre]]'' (to carry) and means sword-wielder, referring to the species' remarkablelarge beak length.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jobling|first=James A.|title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names|publisher=[[Christopher Helm]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4081-3326-2|pages=146}}</ref> Sword-billed hummingbird is the official [[common name]] designated by the [[International Ornithologists' Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hummingbirds – IOC World Bird List|url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/hummingbirds/|access-date=2021-10-09|language=en-US}}</ref> Other common names for the species include sword billed hummingbird, swordbill, and swordbill hummingbird.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ensifera ensifera (Sword-billed Hummingbird) - Avibase|url=https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=191F838FFB97AC1B|access-date=2021-10-09|website=avibase.bsc-eoc.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of SWORDBILL|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swordbill|access-date=2021-10-09|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref>

The sword-billed hummingbird is the [[Monotypic taxon|only species]] in the [[monotypic genus]] ''Ensifera''. In 1939, ''Ensifera ensifera caerulescens'' was described as a subspecies by Willoughby Lowe on the basis of a specimen from the [[Royal Albert Memorial Museum]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lowe|first=Willoughby P.|date=1939-01-01|title=The Bird Collections in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1939.tb03963.x|journal=Ibis|language=en|volume=81|issue=1|pages=65–106|doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1939.tb03963.x}}</ref> However, it has since been [[Lumpers and splitters|lumped]] with the [[nominate subspecies]] as it is likely that the specimen had either aberrant [[plumage]] or was discolored. The species is now considered [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation|lastlast1=Züchner|firstfirst1=Thomas|title=Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera)|date=2020-03-04|url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/swbhum1/1.0/introduction|work=Birds of the World|editor-last=Billerman|editor-first=Shawn M.|publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology|language=en|doi=10.2173/bow.swbhum1.01|access-date=2021-10-09|last2=Kirwan|first2=Guy M.|s2cid=241590785|editor2-last=Keeney|editor2-first=Brooke K.|editor3-last=Rodewald|editor3-first=Paul G.|editor4-last=Schulenberg|editor4-first=Thomas S.}}</ref>

[[File:EnsiferaSword-billed ensiferahummingbird (PicoEnsifera de sableensifera) (14369059535)Caldas.jpg|alt=Sword-billed hummingbird perching on a branch facing leftthumb|left|thumb|PerchingMale sword-billed hummingbird in Caldas, Colombia]]

The sword-billed hummingbird makes a low, [[guttural]], slightly trilled ''trrr''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

The sword-billed hummingbird is found in the [[Andes]] from western [[Venezuela]] through [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], and [[Peru]] to [[Bolivia]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite iucn|last=IUCN|title=Ensifera ensifera: BirdLife International|doi=10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-3.rlts.t22687854a93171973.en|year=2016}}</ref> It inhabits humid and wet [[Montane Forest|montane forest]], [[Woodland edge|forest edges]], [[shrubland]], gardens, and patches of [[páramo]] at elevations of {{Convert|1,700–3,500|m|ft|abbr=on}}, but is most common at elevations of {{Convert|2,400–3,100|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The species is generally [[non-migratory]], but shows localized movements in Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, where it moves to higher altitudes in the early [[wet season]] and move backreturns to lower elevations in the [[dry season]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

The sword-billed hummingbird's distribution correlates with the distribution of species of the [[subgenus]] ''Tacsonia'' in the genus ''[[Passiflora]],'' due to its highly specialized bill and feeding habits.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Lindberg|firstfirst1=Annika Büchert|last2=Olesen|first2=Jens Mogens|date=2001-03-04|title=The fragility of extreme specialization: Passiflora mixta and its pollinating hummingbird Ensifera ensifera|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0266467401001213/type/journal_article|journal=Journal of Tropical Ecology|language=en|volume=17|issue=2|pages=323–329|doi=10.1017/S0266467401001213|s2cid=85573624|issn=0266-4674}}</ref>

== Behavior and ecology ==

As is characteristic of hummingbirds, ''E.the ensifera''sword-billed hummingbird can fly backwards and [[Hummingbird#Aerodynamics_of_flightFlight|hover]] in the air.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Sapir|firstfirst1=Nir|last2=Dudley|first2=Robert|date=2012-10-15|title=Backward flight in hummingbirds employs unique kinematic adjustments and entails low metabolic cost|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|language=en|volume=215|issue=20|pages=3603–3611|doi=10.1242/jeb.073114|issn=0022-0949|pmid=23014570|doi-access=free}}</ref> It also exhibits higher than average [[Disk loading|wing-disk loading]] than other members of its family.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Snow|first=David|title=Relationships between hummingbirds and flowers in the Andes of Colombia.|publisher=Bulletin of the British Museum|year=1980|location=British Museum}}</ref>[[File:Hilt Close-up (28704685461).jpg|thumb|242x242px|Female sword-billed hummingbird feeding in flight|left]]

The sword-billed hummingbird perches with its bill angled upwards to reduce the strain of the heavy beak and improve balance.<ref name=":0" /> The length of the bill is so long, it also forces the sword-billed hummingbird to use its feet to groom, even though this takes longer than traditional beak methods. [[Preening (bird)|Preening]] is important to remove [[ectoparasites]] and spread oil across the feathers.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Clayton|firstfirst1=Dale H.|last2=Cotgreave|first2=Peter|year=1994|title=Relationship of bill morphology to grooming behaviour in birds|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=47|issue=1|pages=195–201|doi=10.1006/anbe.1994.1022|s2cid=53184717}}</ref>

A distinct factor of theThe sword-billed hummingbird is itsdisplays extreme [[coevolution]] with the species[[passionflower]] ''Passiflora mixta.''. The two species evolved together during the early radiation of the subgenus ''Tacsonia'' clade, because the species exclusively pollinated ''P. &nbsp;mixta.'' The position of the flower's [[anthers]] and sigmas[[Stigma and(botany)|stigmas]], along with the length of the [[Corolla (botany)|corolla]] tube, make it an inaccessible food source to nearly every species except the sword-billed hummingbird''.'' This [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualistic]] relationship lets ''P. &nbsp;mixta'' depend on the bird for pollination, while the bird obtains a high-quality food source.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Abrahamczyk|firstfirst1=S.|last2=Souto-Vilarós|first2=D.|last3=Renner|first3=S. S.|date=2014-11-22|title=Escape from extreme specialization: passionflowers, bats and the sword-billed hummingbird|journal=Proc. R. Soc. B|language=en|volume=281|issue=1795|pages=20140888|doi=10.1098/rspb.2014.0888|issn=0962-8452|pmc=4213610|pmid=25274372}}</ref> To obtain nectar, the hummingbird will stick its long bill down the corolla tube of the corolla (both of which are almost exactly the same length), drink, and then retreat and hover for a few seconds before repeating the process. Other species, such as insects, may be able to access the flower's nectar but do so by puncturing the base and feeding through a hole instead of the corolla tube. Additional evidence of coevolution is that both species also inhabit the same territory range along the Andean mountains. Ornithologist [[David Snow (ornithologist)|David Snow]] was the first to extensively describe the relationship between the sword-billed hummingbird ''and P. mixta.''<ref name=":3" /> If sword-billed hummingbird populations were to decline, there would most likely be a negative impact on the abundance of ''P. &nbsp;mixta'' flowers due to their extreme coevolution.<ref name=":5" />

The sword-billed hummingbird is listed as being of [[Least-concern species|least concern]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) on the [[IUCN Red List]] due to its large range, lack of significant population decline, and lack of major threats. There is also no census on global number of individuals, because of the large range of occurrence and uncommon sightings.<ref name=":8" /> It has adapted to man-made habitats in some areas and is also known to occur in several protected areas.<ref name=":0" /> [[Climate change]] and [[deforestation]] are the two most probable threats to the sword-billed hummingbird in the future sinceas they canmay lead to habitat loss and decreaseda decrease in food sources, especially of ''Passiflora mixta.''<ref name=":4" />