White-whiskered Hermit

The white-whiskered hermit (Phaethornis yaruqui) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.

Taxonomy and systematics: The white-whiskered hermit is monotypic. The western Colombia population was at one time considered to be a subspecies P. y. sanctijohannis but the description was found to be that of immature birds.

 The white-whiskered hermit is about 13 cm long. Males weigh 4 to and females 4 to. This medium-sized hermit has a bronzy crown and iridescent bluish green upperparts. Its underparts are green to dark gray. The face has a black "mask" with a buffy supercilium and a white gular stripe. The male´s bill is almost straight. The female has a shorter and gently decurved bill, shorter wings, more grayish underparts, and a longer tail than the male.

Distribution and habitat: The white-whiskered hermit is found from Colombia´s northern Chocó Department south through western Ecuador to El Oro Province. It has also been reported in Panama near the Colombian border. It inhabits humid mid-elevation and montane forest, humid secondary forest, dense shrublands, and plantations. In elevation it usually occurs below 1200 m but has been recorded as high as 2000 m.

Movement: The white-whiskered hermit is primarily sedentary but apparently makes seasonal elevation movements in Ecuador.

Feeding: The white-whiskered hermit is a "trap-line" feeder like other hermit hummingbirds, visiting a circuit of a wide variety of flowering plants for nectar. It also consumes small arthropods.

Breeding: The white-whiskered hermit´s breeding season has not been described, though it appears to span from November to July. The nest is a cone-shaped cup suspended from the underside of a drooping leaf. The clutch size is two eggs.

Vocalization: The white-whiskered hermit´s song is "a continuous series of rather harsh ´kree-u´ notes". It also gives a series of "seek" notes while wagging its tail on a low perch at a lek.

Status: The IUCN has assessed the white-whiskered hermit as being of Least Concern though its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. It is "[g]enerally common in wet forests [but] long-term survival clearly depends on habitat conservation."