Residential ranges of the sparkling-tailed hummingbird (inked), beautiful hummingbird (hatched), and Mexican sheartail (cross-hatching, plus an arrowhead showing an extralimital breeding location). (Adapted from Howell and Webb, 1995)
None in general English use; Tijereta yucateca (Spanish).
Endemic resident of Mexico along the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (including Holbox Island). Local breeding has also been reported from central Veracruz.
None recognized.
Wing, males 34.5–36 mm. (ave. of 7, 37.1 mm), females 37.5–40 mm (ave. of 4, 38.7 mm). Exposed culmen, males 20.5–22.5 mm (ave. of 7, 21.3 mm), females 22–23 mm (ave. of 4, 22.4 mm) (Ridgway, 1911). Eggs, no information.
One male weighed 2.3 g, and 3 females had a mean mass of 2.6 g (range 2.5–2.7 g) (Paynter, 1955).
Adult male. Upperparts metallic bronze to bronze-green, this color extending to the deeply forked tail; the three longest and most lateral pairs of rectrices are purplish bronzy black, with the inner webs of the progressively shorter second and third pairs strongly edged with pale cinnamon; chin and throat bright metallic purple, this gorget bounded behind by white on the lower throat and sides of the head, and the white extending down the middle of the breast and underparts to the under tail-coverts; sides and flanks metallic bronze-green; iris brown; feet dusky; bill black.
Residential ranges of the sparkling-tailed hummingbird (inked), beautiful hummingbird (hatched), and Mexican sheartail (cross-hatching, plus an arrowhead showing an extralimital breeding location). (Adapted from Howell and Webb, 1995)
Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but the tail much shorter (double-rounded rather than forked in profile); the three outer rectrices light cinnamon rufous, with a black subterminal band, and the two outermost rectrices broadly tipped with white; the third may also be white-tipped; the throat and underparts grayish white, with no metallic gorget feathers.
Immature male. Similar to the adult female, but the throat flecked with glittering pink feathers, and the tail with a broader black subterminal band (Howell and Webb, 1995).
In the hand. The long, decurved bill of this species is more than half the length of the tail in males, and as long or slightly longer than the tail in females. Males are further easily recognized by their forked tail (the central rectrices are about 30 percent as long as the outermost pair, which are 35–38 mm). Females have a uniformly short tail that is double-rounded (its central rectrices average only about 4 mm shorter than the outermost pair).
In the field. Within its limited range, this small species may be easily distinguished by the long, decurved bill of both sexes (longer than the head) and, in males, the deeply forked tail and brilliant metallic red gorget. Females and young males have rather short tails, but no other hummingbird in the area has such a long, curved bill. Vocalizations include the usual chipping notes of hummingbirds, and buzzy sounds are produced during male display flights and actually may be mechanical wing noises rather than vocalizations.
Associated with arid scrub habitats, especially those with scattered trees or high perches, from sea level to about 300 meters’ elevation. The birds also occur in coastal mangrove woods, forest edges, and city gardens, but generally seem to be fairly closely confined to coastal environments.
No definite migrations have been documented, although vagrants have been reported south to northeastern Quintana Roo. Reported disjunctive breeding in central Veracruz (600 km away from its nearest known breeding locations on the Yucatan Peninsula) is also notable.
No detailed information is available. The species’ long bill should allow it to forage on flowers having relatively deep corollas.
During aerial display, the male makes buzzing shuttle flights back and forth in front of the perched female, with his tail spread and twisted almost at right angles to the plane of his body, then steeply ascends to about 30 meters or more before suddenly diving and perching beside the female. Nesting in the Yucatan Peninsula reportedly occurs from August to April; breeding-condition birds have been obtained in Veracruz during April (Howell and Webb, 1995). However, the nest and eggs of this species are apparently still undescribed.
The two species of sheartails are the only members of the traditional genus Doricha (Ridgway, 1911; Sibley and Monroe, 1990), but this poorly defined genus (based largely on male tail configuration) might easily be included with the general woodstar assemblage in an expanded genus Calothorax, as was done in the earlier edition of this book, and as treated by Howell and Webb (1995). The similarities in bill length and bill shape of the two species of sheartails are substantial, suggesting marked similarities in foraging strategies between these two. There are also similarities in bill shape and length with the lucifer-beautiful hummingbird group, which are also seemingly fairly closely related taxa.