Day 63: Marvellous spatuletail – Loddigesia mirabilis
What’s in a name?
That which we call a marvellous
spatuletail, by any other name, would NOT smell as sweet. Although ‘hummingbird’
itself is an interesting name, with so many hummingbird species of such
fantastic diversity, naturalists have given them a variety of interesting and
colourful names which encapsulate their beauty. Although more descriptive names
might be more useful for hummingbirds, I think the suite of monikers adorning
these birds really add to their beauty and mystique.
Some hummingbirds’ names refer to
their prominent features including the streamertails (Trochilus), firecrowns (Sephanoides),
coronets (Boissoneaua), pufflegs (Haplophaedia), plumeleteers (Chalybura), trainbearers (Lesbia), metaltails (Metallura) and visorbearers (Augastes). Some species appeal to groups
of people such as the cowled jacobins (Florisuga),
the enticing coquettes (Lophornis)
and the native caribs (Eulampis) and incas
(Coeligena spp).
Colour is often referenced in
hummingbird names from the drab hermits (Phaethorninae) to the
brightly-coloured brilliants (Heliodoxa).
Many names reflect the jewel-like appearance of hummingbirds such as the topazes
(Topaza), emeralds (multiple genera),
sapphires (Hylocharis), moutaingems (Lampornis) and sungems (Heliactin). Other groups have a more cosmological
feel including the sunbeams (Aglaeactis),
hillstars (Oreotrochilus spp.), starfrontlets
(Coeligena), comets (multiple genera),
starthroats (Heliomaster) and
woodstars (multiple genera). Finally, some species appeal to the mythical
creatures they resemble such as the woodnymphs (Thalurania), sunangels (Heliangelus),
sylphs (Aglaiocercus) and fairies (Heliothryx).
One of the most impressive to
look at and glorifyingly named, the marvellous spatuletail is a stunning hummer
coated in green and bronze with a dazzling turquoise gorget. The defining
feature of this Peruvian endemic is the pair of long, indigo, racquet-like tail
feathers which extend from a tail unique for only having four feathers. As with
many hummingbirds, it is the males who bear the brightest colours and most
extreme ornamentation. He waves his spatulas in a frenetic courtship display in
the hope of wooing a mate.
Day 64: Bee hummingbird – Mellisuga helenae
Life in miniature
The bee hummingbird is the smallest
bird in the world. If you saw this creature flitting round the gardens of its native Cuba you could be forgiven for thinking it a bee or moth on first inspection. It weighs just 1.6-2 g. A male and female perched together on
your hand would weigh as little as a penny! Normally its wings beat around 80 times
a second but the courtship flight of a male raises that rate to 200 per second!
It is the bird with the fewest feathers and the highest body temperature and its
heart beats up to 1,200 times a minute. Meeting its dietary needs means
consuming half its weight in food and eight times it weight in water every day. In most
hummingbirds, nests are small cups fused to twigs and, unsurprisingly, the bee
hummingbird’s is especially tiny, being just 2.5 cm in diameter and made from
plant matter, lichen and cobwebs. The smallest bird on the smallest nest must be and endearing sight!
Day 65: Gartered trogon – Trogon caligatus
Toe to toe
The gartered trogon is one of 39
trogon species in the order Trogoniformes. They are colourful, arboreal birds
which feed on insects and fruit in generally tropical forests around the world. Trogons
are cavity nesters, using their strong bills to gnaw at rotting wood. This has
given them the name trogon which means ‘nibbling’ in Greek. Gartered trogons,
as well as the related violaceous trogon (T.
violaceus), can also nest in wasp, ant or termite nests.
Let’s use this opportunity to talk feet. The archetypal bird foot is anisodactylic with digit 1 pointing backwards and digits 2 to 4 facing forwards. This is more than adequate for the many terrestrial and aquatic orders we have come across so far. However, on the road to
passerines it various groups have tried a multitude
of digital arrangements. Trogons are, uniquely,
heterodactylic meaning that both digits 1 and 2 face backwards. This
arrangement is tailored for an arboreal life, allowing trogons to grip branches
firmly.
This is similar to the zygodactyly of the parrots, cuckoos and
woodpeckers however, in their case, it is digits 1 and 4 which face backwards. Owls
and ospreys are able to adopt this arrangement when needed, for example when
catching prey, but they can also revert back to more typical anisodactyly. In
mousbirds and some swifts, both digits 1 and 4 can be rotated to either face
forwards or backwards. The swifts use this ability to have all four toes face forward to hook onto
rough surfaces. Last but not least, the kingfishers and allies (Coraciiformes) have partially fused second
and third digits. Since birds have two limbs devoted to flight, the feet have
become increasingly important for interaction with the environment and thus they
have been adapted to meet many needs.
Day 66: Laughing kookaburra – Dacelo novaeguineae
Merry merry king of the bush is
he
The laughing kookaburra is one of
Australia’s most famous birds, known for its loud, cackling call. Whilst
staying in Cairns, a pair of kookaburras (or just kookas) would frequent the
garden, sitting together and raising their heads in howls of laughter. They
would then plop to the ground where they bounced around in search of food. They
eat a lot, mainly taking large insects, reptiles and small mammals and birds.
One thing they don’t eat is fish, despite being the largest species of
kingfisher.
The laughing kookaburra is one of
five kookaburras which also include the demonic blue-winged kookaburra (D. leachii) and the impressive
shovel-billed kookaburra (Clytoceyx rex).
Kookaburras are part of the Halcyonidae, collectively known as the tree kingfishers.
None are fish specialists, preferring to watch and wait from selected vantage
points. There are two other families in the kingfisher suborder Alcedines. Our
own Eurasian kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is a
member of the river kingfisher family Alcedinidae. These are a group of small, bright
kingfishers with short tails and long, thin beaks. By contrast, the water
kingfishers of the Cerylidae are larger and chunkier with longer tails and more
dour plumage. They are also the only kingfishers found in the New World. Both of the families are expert fishers, plunging head first into the water from well-placed perches.
When allocating Latin names to
the kingfishers, naturalists made some interesting decisions. The genus of
river kingfishers Alcedo was a
reasonable enough starting point. It is the Latinised version of Halcyon which
refers to the Greek myth of Alcyone. Alcyone and her husband Ceyx referred to themselves as Hera and Zeus. This sacrilege invited the wrath of Zeus himself who
smote Ceyx, aboard his ship, with a lightning bolt. When Alcyone was informed
of his demise (via the dream god Morpheus), she threw herself into the sea. Out
of pity, the gods transformed the couple into kingfishers. Every year, Alcyone
would lay her eggs in a nest on the beach whilst her father, Aeolus, protected her efforts by calming the waters of the sea for a week either side of
the winter solstice. This is the probable etymology of the phrase ‘Halcyon
days.’
So far so good, we have bird
named for a mythical kingfisher. Next, Alcyone’s husband Ceyx gets its own
genus, the dwarf kingfishers (Ceyx).
I suppose that’s fair as Ceyx was also transformed. We also have the long-tailed
paradise kingfishers in the genus Halcyon
which is simply the Greek from of Alcedo.
This is a touch lazy, although Greek and Latin tautology does exist a lot in
binomial names (e.g. Corvus corax means
crow-crow in Latin then Greek). Follwing this, naming just got silly. The Dacelo
kookaburras we started with are actually just an anagram of Alcedo as is the banded kingfisher genus Lacedo. Finally the belted kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon once again references Alcyone. With a wealth of
binomial Latin names in existence, biologists have demonstrated their
imagination abundantly but they were having an off day with the kingfishers.
