Animalia Life

Doryfera ludovicae
SUBFAMILY
Trochilinae
TAXONOMY
Trochilus ludovicae Bourcier and Mulsant, 1847, Buena Vista, east Andes above Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia. Two subspecies are recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Porte-lance de Louise; German: Grьnstirn- Lanzettschnabel; Spanish: Colibri Picolanza Mayor.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm); female 0.19–0.21 oz (5.5–6.0 g), male 0.2–0.23 oz (5.9–6.4 g). Bill long, slightly upturned. Male with frontlet glittering green, crown and nape dark coppery-bronze, shading to bronzy-green on back; uppertail-coverts blue; tail black, narrowly tipped with dull grey; underparts dull, dark greenish bronze, darker and greener on throat. Female similar to male but frontlet smaller or absent. Immatures similar to adults.
DISTRIBUTION
D. l. veraguensis: north central Costa Rica to western Panama; D. l. ludovicae: extreme eastern Panama (Cerro Tacarcuna), Colombia and western Venezuela, south through Andes to northwestern Bolivia (east slope only from central Ecuador southwards).
HABITAT
Mid-strata and lower canopy of cloudforest and humid lower montane forest. Males often found along ridges while female prefers ravines and gorges particularly for nesting. Sometimes down at shrub-height. Mainly 2,450–7,550 ft (750–2,300 m).
BEHAVIOR
Territorial species, defending stands of flowers against other hummingbirds and conspecifics. High pitched melodious song.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Visits epiphytes with long, tubular, usually pendent corollas, including Ericaceae (Psammisia, Cavendishia, Macleania), Loranthaceae (Psittacanthus), Rubiaceae, and Gesneriaceae. Frequently flycatches, sallying from perch in canopy or along stream, or hover-hawks low over stream; also hover-gleans arthropods from vegetation.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breeds in Costa Rica in the latter half of wet season to start of dry (August to January); in Colombia nesting recorded between July and late January. Nest a bulky cup of moss, treefern scales, fine fibers and cobwebs in dark, usually humid site; attached to hanging rootlet or vine rock overhang in ravine or gorge. Two eggs; incubation 19 days; fledging period 25 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Generally uncommon to locally fairly common in suitable
HABITAT
throughout range.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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