In one study on St. Lucia (Temeles et al. 2000), the Purple-throated Carib was reported to be the only pollinator of Heliconia caribaea and H. bihai.
The male Purple-throated Carib defends flower-centered territories year-round; the female does so only during the non-breeding season (Schuchmann 1999). In a study on the island of Dominica, Temeles and Kress (2010) found that female Purple-throated Caribs preferred to mate with males that had high standing crops of nectar on their flower territories. A male’s ability to maintain high nectar standing crops on his territory not only depended on the number of flowers in his territory, but also on his ability to enhance his territory through the prevention of nectar losses to intruders. The authors found that males defended nectar supplies that were two to five times greater than their daily energy needs and consistently partitioned their territories in order to provide some resources to attract intruding females as potential mates. Such territorial behavior resulted in males defending some flowers for their own food and other flowers as food for intruding females. The authors results suggest that variation in mating success among males is driven primarily by variation in territory quality, which ultimately depends on a male’s fighting abilility and size.
The Purple-throated Carib (Eulampis jugularis) is a large, dark hummingbird with a purplish-red throat and breast, greenish-blue tail, emerald-green wings, and a down-curved bill. Although this bird may sometimes appear entirely dark in the field, the green wings are usually conspicuous. The bill of the female is longer and more sharply downcurved than that of the male (Temeles et al. 2000). The immature plumage has the throat and chest orange with red speckles. The Purple-throated Carib is found only on certain islands in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean, where it can be common. It is found in mountain forests and clearings, is often seen in banana plantations, and occurs occasionally at lower elevations. (Bond 1993; Schuchmann 1999; Raffaele et al. 2003)
The Purple-throated Carib has a restricted geographic range, but can be common within this range. It appears to adapt well to habitat modification such as banana farming. (Schuchmann 1999).
The range of the Purple-throated Carib is limited to the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean. It is a fairly common resident on St. Bartholomew, Saba, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada. It is uncommon on St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, Nevis, Antigua, and Montserrat. It is a vagrant elsewhere. (Raffaele et al. 2003)
Male Purple-throated Caribs, whose bills are shorter and less curved than those of females, tend to take nectar from flower species (or, in some cases, morphs) that are shorter and less curved than the flowers fed on by females; males may also specialize on flowers with greater nectar reward (Temeles et al. 2000; Temeles and Kress 2003). Temeles et al. (2009) studied foraging efficiency of these hummingbirds at both natural and artificial flowers of differing length and curvature. The observed performance trade-offs suggest that the long, curved bills of females are adapted for feeding from long, curved flowers, whereas the shorter bills of males are adapted for hover-feeding from short, straighter flowers.
The Purple-throated Carib is found in mountain forests and clearings and is often seen in banana plantations; it occurs occasionally at lower elevations (Bond 1993; Raffaele et al. 2003). It is typically found at 800 to 1200 meters elevation (Schuchmann 1999).
Density may reach at least 8 to 12 pairs per square kilometer (Schuchmann 1999).
The Purple-throated Carib breeds from February to May (occasionally January to September). It builds a compact cup-shaped nest on a vertical branch in a tree at about 3 to 5 meters height. Nest material consists of soft plant fibers and spider web, occasionally camouflaged with thin strips of bark, moss, or lichen on the outer nest wall. Clutch size is two and incubation (by the female) is 17 to 19 days. Chicks are darkish with two dorsal rows of down. The fledging period is 17 to 20 days and young remain with the female for 2 to 3 weeks. Females defend the area around the nest aggressively. (Schuchmann 1999)
The Purple-throated Carib is 11 to 12 cm in length. The female is 7 to 10 g and the male is 9 to 12 g. (Schuchmann 1999)
The Purple-throated Carib feeds on nectar of indigenous and introduced trees, Heliconia, and banana. It gleans small arthropods from leaves and spider webs and, less frequently, hawks for small insects on the wing. (Schuchmann 1999)
The purple-throated carib (Eulampis jugularis) is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae. It is resident on most of the islands of the Lesser Antilles and has occurred as a vagrant both further north and south.[3][4][5]
The purple-throated carib was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Trochilus jugularis.[6] Linnaeus based his short description on the "red breasted humming bird" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist George Edwards and the "colibry violet de Cayenne" that had been described and illustrated by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.[7][8] Edwards believed his specimen had come from Suriname, Brisson believed his specimen had come from Cayenne, but both authors were mistaken, as the purple-throated carib is only found on the islands of the Lesser Antilles.[9] The specific epithet jugularis is Medieval Latin for "of the throat".[10] The purple-throated carib is the type species of the genus Eulampis that was introduced in 1831 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie and which it shares with the green-throated carib (E. holosericeus).[9][11][3] The species is monotypic: No subspecies are recognized.[3]
The purple-throated carib is 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long. Males weigh 9 to 12 g (0.32 to 0.42 oz) and females 7 to 10 g (0.25 to 0.35 oz); specimens of unrecorded sex weighed 6.7 to 10.8 g (0.24 to 0.38 oz). The adult male and female have the same plumage. Their crown and back are velvety black, the throat and chest fiery purplish red, the wings bright golden green, and the tail and its upper and lower coverts metallic greenish blue. The male has a medium length slightly decurved bill; the female's is longer and more strongly curved. Immatures have an orange throat and chest with red speckles.[5]
The purple-throated carib is resident on Antigua, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Sint Eustatius. It has occurred as a vagrant in Barbados, Barbuda, Grenada and the Greater Antilles. It inhabits the interior and edges of primary and secondary forest, mostly at elevations between 800 and 1,200 m (2,600 and 3,900 ft).[5]
The purple-throated carib is generally sedentary. On St. Lucia and St. Vincent it has been recorded at sea level in late May.[5]
The purple-throated carib feeds primarily on nectar of flowering trees from the middle levels to the treetops. Males defend flower-centered feeding territories year round and females during the non-breeding season. The species also feeds on small arthropods, catching them on the wing and gleaning them from leaves, flowers, and spider webs.[5]
The purple-throated carib nests mostly between February and May, but the season may start as early as January and extend to September. It makes a small cup nest from soft plant fibers and spider silk, and sometimes attaches lichens and bark strips to the outside. It attaches the nest to a vertical tree branch, typically between 3 and 5 m (10 and 16 ft) above the ground. Females are strongly territorial around the nest. The clutch is two eggs. The incubation time is 17 to 19 days with fledging 17 to 20 days after hatch.[5]
The purple-throated carib's calls include "strident 'tsip' and sharp 'chewp'" notes that it repeats rapidly when agitated.[5]
The IUCN has assessed the purple-throated carib as being of Least Concern, though its population size and trend are not known.[1] Though it is restricted to a chain of small islands, it is a common resident in its elevation range. "Ready occupation of man-made habitats suggests that habitat loss is unlikely to be a problem."[5]
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) The purple-throated carib (Eulampis jugularis) is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae. It is resident on most of the islands of the Lesser Antilles and has occurred as a vagrant both further north and south.
