Leks, during breeding season, are a tourist attraction throughout South America.
Long-Tailed Hermits are pollinators of Aphelandra and Costus laevis species. These flowers have corollas that the Long-Tailed Hermit is able to use its slender, curved beak to feed and to carry pollen from one plant to another. Since these hummingbirds do not dominate any food plants they are in competition with aggressive bees for nectar (Johnsgard, 1997).
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
The Long-Tailed Hermit feeds by hovering over a flower while extracting nectar from within the corolla using its long curved beak and specialized tongue. Long-Tailed Hermits' primary food source is sugar-rich nectar from Heliconia, Aphelandra, passion flowers (Costus laevis) and the Red Passion Flower (Passiflora vitifolia). These flowers range in color from yellow, orange, red, and pink. There is a seasonal switch to insects when flowers become scarce or more protein is needed in the diet. Long-Tailed Hermits consume amounts of nectar that are equivalent to eating their own body weight. Hermits use much of their energy throughout the day. During the night hermits enter a state of torpor (voluntarily lowering their body temperature) so they are able to conserve energy.(Gill, 1988).
The Long-Tailed Hermit Hummingbird Phaethornis superciliosus, like all other hummingbirds is a new world species. It ranges from the Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees latitude) south to the Equator in South America (McDade 1992)
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
Long-Tailed Hermits can be found in lowland edges of tropical forests, especially streamside. Hermits are commonly observed in shady areas of tropical growth. They are concentrated in a warm, moist habitat where favorite food plants are abundantly found (Skutch 1973).
Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest
The Long-Tailed Hermit weighs between 3.5-6.6 grams (0.1-0.2 oz). The average adult size is 15 cm (6 inches) long. It has two distinctive physical characteristics, a long curved bill measuring about 34-37 mm (1.3-1.5 in), and long tail measuring approximatly 63-68 mm (2.4-2.6 in) in length. The feathers blend from a dark bronzy-brown head, to a white tipped tail. Long-Tailed Hermits are monomorphic, but the female has a smaller wing span and weighs less than the male. The young are identified by gray feathers at the base of the neck and on their back (Johnsgard, 1997).
Range mass: 3.5 to 6.6 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
The Long-Tailed Hermit breeds during the wet season, January through August. The blooming seasons of certain passion flowers peak during these months, establishing an abundant food supply. The materials used to construct the nest are cobwebs, plant fibers and saliva from the hummingbird. The cone-shaped nests are securely fastened to the underside of palm leaves. The palm leaf forms an inner wall and is used to protect the nest from rain. The clutch consists of two white elongated eggs which have a 14-19 day incubation period. During incubation the female hermit infrequently leaves her nest for nourishment before returning. The female feeds her young by regurgitating food, which are insects because they provide the young with protein. The young's fledging periods vary from 18 to 28 days. Females are unaided by males while constructing the nest, incubating the eggs and weaning the young (Skutch 1973, Johnsgard 1997).
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
The long-tailed hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus) is a large hummingbird that is a resident breeder in Venezuela, the Guianas, and north-eastern Brazil. This species was formerly referred to as the eastern long-tailed hermit.
The long-tailed hermit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Trochilus superciliosus.[3] Linnaeus based his description on the "colibry à longue queue de Cayenne" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.[3][4] The specific epithet is from Latin superciliosa meaning "eye-browed".[5] The long-tailed hermit is now the type species of the genus Phaethornis that was introduced in 1827 by William Swainson.[6][7]
Two subspecies are recognised:[7]
The taxonomic history of this group is complicated, with similar hermit populations from both sides of the Andes being originally classed as a single long-tailed hermit species. The western population was then split as the western long-tailed hermit, P. longirostris, leading to the renaming of P. superciliosus as eastern long-tailed hermit. The further renaming of P. longirostris as long-billed hermit means that P. superciliosus no longer needs "eastern" in its English name.[8]
A further problem relates to the taxonomy of the long-tailed hermit versus the great-billed hermit (P. malaris). Most taxa previously consider subspecies of the former (insolitus, moorei, ochraceiventris, bolivianus and margarettae) are now considered subspecies of the latter. A satisfactory taxonomic treatment of the entire P. longirostris/P. superciliosus/P. malaris group is still lacking according to some Neotropical ornithologists.[9]
The adult long-tailed hermit is mainly dull brownish green above with a buff-tinged rump. It has a dark mask through the eye, bordered above and below with whitish-buff stripes. The underparts are pale greyish-buff in colour. The sexes are similar, although the female is slightly smaller. It is the largest of hermit hummingbirds, with a length of around 15 cm (5.9 in) and a body mass of 6.3 g (0.22 oz).[10][11]
During the breeding season, male long-tailed hermits sing in communal leks of up to several dozen birds, and also wiggle their long tails in display. Competitive lek singing can occupy half of the daylight hours, the purpose of course being to attract females. The female selects the best lek singer to mate with. The song consists of sharp tsuk sounds.
The female long-tailed hermit is solely responsible for nest construction, incubation and feeding the young. She lays two white eggs in a conical nest of fibres and cobwebs suspended under a large Heliconia or banana leaf.
The long-tailed hermit inhabits forest undergrowth, usually near water and its preferred food plants. It is 13.5 cm long and weighs 4-6 g. The bill is very long and decurved (3.6-4.3 cm), with a red tipped black lower mandible, and the central feathers of the tapered tail are long (6.3-6.8 cm) and white-tipped.
The food of this species is nectar, taken from large flowers, such as Heliconias, gingers and passion flowers, and small insects and spiders taken as an essential source of protein. Hatchlings are fed by the female with regurgitated invertebrates.
Long-tailed hermits are trap-line feeders; they do not defend territory, but visit seasonal flowers on routes through the forest up to 1 km long.
The long-tailed hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus) is a large hummingbird that is a resident breeder in Venezuela, the Guianas, and north-eastern Brazil. This species was formerly referred to as the eastern long-tailed hermit.
