El despliegue aéreo con sonidos mecánicos del Picaflor Cometa (Sappho sparganurus)

Juan I. Areta

doi:10.56178/eh.v41i2.1549

Comunicaciones Breves Publicado 10 octubre 2026 https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v41i2.1549

El despliegue aéreo con sonidos mecánicos del Picaflor Cometa (Sappho sparganurus)

despliegue sexual sonación Trochilidae zambullida

Juan I. Areta Laboratorio de Ecología, Comportamiento y Sonidos Naturales (ECOSON), Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino (IBIGEO-CONICET/UNSa), 9 de julio 14, Rosario de Lerma (4405), Salta, Argentina

Resumen

El Picaflor Cometa (Sappho sparganurus) está emparentado con Lesbia y Ramphomicron, que producen sonaciones (sonidos mecánicos con función de comunicación). Aquí describo el despliegue con sonaciones del Picaflor Cometa observado en Argentina y Bolivia. El despliegue en forma de ‘sartén’, realizado por los machos, consiste en un vuelo recto, lento y suspendido por unos 25 m, a unos 20 m del suelo, manteniendo la cola estirada, seguido de una zambullida descendente casi totalmente vertical a alta velocidad dirigiéndose a un arbusto (posiblemente con algún conespecífico) hasta llegar a unos 2 m del suelo. Al acercarse al fondo de la zambullida se produce un sonido mecánico, impulsivo y seco, doble ‘tec...tec’ o simple ‘tec’, y luego asciende en un ángulo elevado, hasta llegar a la misma altura de la cuál partió, girando en U en el plano horizontal, para repetir el mismo despliegue entre 3 y 4 veces con idéntica orientación. El despliegue ocurre en baja frecuencia y de forma impredecible, aparentemente sólo en época reproductiva (agosto a marzo). En base a lo que ocurre en el Cometa Cola Negra (L. victoriae), especulo que es un despliegue de cortejo y que el sonido se produce mediante un mecanismo intra-alar. El despliegue aéreo en Sappho incluye sonidos vocales similares al canto y sonaciones bien espaciadas, mientras que en Lesbia incluye solamente sonaciones conformadas por trenes de notas en el Cometa Cola Verde (L. nuna) o trenes de dobletes en el Cometa Cola Negra.

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Referencias

Areta JI, Clark CJ (2026) High-speed infrared video analysis of sonations in the Scissor-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata). Journal of Avian Biology 2026(3):e03631. https://doi.org/10.1002/jav.03631
Bioacoustics Research Program (2017) Raven Pro: Interactive Sound Analysis Software (Version 1.5) [Computer Software]. Ithaca, NY: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. [URL: https://www.ravensoundsoftware.com/article-tags/raven-pro-1-5/]
Clark CJ (2009) Courtship dives of Anna’s hummingbird offer insights into flight performance limits. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276(1670):3047-3052. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0508
Clark CJ, Prum RO (2015) Aeroelastic flutter of feathers, flight, and the evolution of non-vocal communication in birds. Journal of Experimental Biology 218(21):3520-3527. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.126458
Clark CJ, Kirschel ANG, Hadjioannou L, Prum RO (2016) Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of medial primary wing feathers. Journal of Experimental Biology 219(7):1069-1075. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.131664
Clark CJ, McGuire JA, Bonaccorso E, Berv JS, Prum RO (2018) Complex coevolution of wing, tail, and vocal sounds of courting male bee hummingbirds. Evolution 72(3):630-646. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13432
Clark CJ (2021) Ways that animal wings produce sound. Integrative and Comparative Biology 61(2):696-709. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab008
Clark CJ, Areta JI (2023) Adaptive hypotheses on the evolution of non-vocal communication sounds in birds. Forum Acusticum 2023 10:4847-4853. https://doi.org/10.61782/fa.2023.0066
Collins CT (1968) The comparative biology of two species of swifts in Trinidad, West Indies. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 11(5):257-320 https://doi.org/10.58782/flmnh.htio6291
Contino F (1975) Observaciones sobre la conducta de Sappho sparganura en el cerro de Santa Bárbara, Jujuy, Argentina. Hornero 11(4):265-270. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v11i4.1255
Coward TA (1928) The ‘wing-clapping’ of the nightjar. British Birds 22(6):134-136
Eddowes MJ, Lea AJ (2021) A review of ‘wing clapping’ in European Nightjars. British Birds 114(10):629-637
Fjeldså J, Krabbe NK (1990) Birds of the high Andes. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen and Apollo Books, Copenhagen and Svendborg, Dinamarca
Hilty SL, Brown WL (1986) A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
Jordan EA, Areta JI (2020) Bisonic mechanical wing songs and complex kinematics in aerial displays of the Subtropical Doradito (Pseudocolopteryx acutipennis). Integrative and Comparative Biology 60(5):1173-1187. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaa062
McGuire JA, Witt CC, Remsen Jr, JV, Corl A, Rabosky DL, Altshuler DL, Dudley R (2014) Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds. Current Biology 24(8):910-916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.016
Mengel RM, Sharpe RS, Woolfenden GE (1972) Wing clapping in territorial and courtship behavior of the Chuck-will’s-widow and Poor-will (Caprimulgidae). Auk 89(2):440-444. https://doi.org/10.2307/4084219
Rico-Guevara A, Echeverri-Mallarino L, Clark CJ (2022) Oh, snap! A within-wing sonation in black-tailed trainbearers. Journal of Experimental Biology 225(8):jeb243219. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243219
Schulenberg TS, Stotz DF, Lane DF, O’Neill JP, Parker TA III (2007) Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
Schulenberg TS, Jaramillo A (2020) Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), version 1.0. En Schulenberg TS (ed) Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.retcom1.01
Sick H (1959) Notes on the biology of two Brazilian swifts, Chaetura andrei and Chaetura cinereiventris. Auk 76(4):471-477. https://doi.org/10.2307/4082314
Stiles FG (1982) Aggressive and courtship displays of the male Anna’s hummingbird. Condor 84(2):208-225. https://doi.org/10.2307/1367674
Züchner T, Boesman PFD (2020) Black-backed Thornbill (Ramphomicron dorsale), version 1.0. En: del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J, Christie DA, de Juana E (eds) Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blbtho1.01

Cómo citar

Juan I. Areta (2026). El despliegue aéreo con sonidos mecánicos del Picaflor Cometa (Sappho sparganurus). El Hornero, Vol. 41 Núm. 2 (2026). https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v41i2.1549

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Licencia: CC BY-NC 4.0

[1] Areta JI, Clark CJ (2026) High-speed infrared video analysis of sonations in the Scissor-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata). Journal of Avian Biology 2026(3):e03631. https://doi.org/10.1002/jav.03631

[2] Bioacoustics Research Program (2017) Raven Pro: Interactive Sound Analysis Software (Version 1.5) [Computer Software]. Ithaca, NY: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. [URL: https://www.ravensoundsoftware.com/article-tags/raven-pro-1-5/]

[3] Clark CJ (2009) Courtship dives of Anna’s hummingbird offer insights into flight performance limits. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276(1670):3047-3052. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0508

[4] Clark CJ, Prum RO (2015) Aeroelastic flutter of feathers, flight, and the evolution of non-vocal communication in birds. Journal of Experimental Biology 218(21):3520-3527. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.126458

[5] Clark CJ, Kirschel ANG, Hadjioannou L, Prum RO (2016) Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of medial primary wing feathers. Journal of Experimental Biology 219(7):1069-1075. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.131664

[6] Clark CJ, McGuire JA, Bonaccorso E, Berv JS, Prum RO (2018) Complex coevolution of wing, tail, and vocal sounds of courting male bee hummingbirds. Evolution 72(3):630-646. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13432

[7] Clark CJ (2021) Ways that animal wings produce sound. Integrative and Comparative Biology 61(2):696-709. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab008

[8] Clark CJ, Areta JI (2023) Adaptive hypotheses on the evolution of non-vocal communication sounds in birds. Forum Acusticum 2023 10:4847-4853. https://doi.org/10.61782/fa.2023.0066

[9] Collins CT (1968) The comparative biology of two species of swifts in Trinidad, West Indies. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 11(5):257-320 https://doi.org/10.58782/flmnh.htio6291

[10] Contino F (1975) Observaciones sobre la conducta de Sappho sparganura en el cerro de Santa Bárbara, Jujuy, Argentina. Hornero 11(4):265-270. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v11i4.1255

[11] Coward TA (1928) The ‘wing-clapping’ of the nightjar. British Birds 22(6):134-136

[12] Eddowes MJ, Lea AJ (2021) A review of ‘wing clapping’ in European Nightjars. British Birds 114(10):629-637

[13] Fjeldså J, Krabbe NK (1990) Birds of the high Andes. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen and Apollo Books, Copenhagen and Svendborg, Dinamarca

[14] Hilty SL, Brown WL (1986) A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ

[15] Jordan EA, Areta JI (2020) Bisonic mechanical wing songs and complex kinematics in aerial displays of the Subtropical Doradito (Pseudocolopteryx acutipennis). Integrative and Comparative Biology 60(5):1173-1187. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaa062

[16] McGuire JA, Witt CC, Remsen Jr, JV, Corl A, Rabosky DL, Altshuler DL, Dudley R (2014) Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds. Current Biology 24(8):910-916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.016

[17] Mengel RM, Sharpe RS, Woolfenden GE (1972) Wing clapping in territorial and courtship behavior of the Chuck-will’s-widow and Poor-will (Caprimulgidae). Auk 89(2):440-444. https://doi.org/10.2307/4084219

[18] Rico-Guevara A, Echeverri-Mallarino L, Clark CJ (2022) Oh, snap! A within-wing sonation in black-tailed trainbearers. Journal of Experimental Biology 225(8):jeb243219. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243219

[19] Schulenberg TS, Stotz DF, Lane DF, O’Neill JP, Parker TA III (2007) Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ

[20] Schulenberg TS, Jaramillo A (2020) Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), version 1.0. En Schulenberg TS (ed) Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.retcom1.01

[21] Sick H (1959) Notes on the biology of two Brazilian swifts, Chaetura andrei and Chaetura cinereiventris. Auk 76(4):471-477. https://doi.org/10.2307/4082314

[22] Stiles FG (1982) Aggressive and courtship displays of the male Anna’s hummingbird. Condor 84(2):208-225. https://doi.org/10.2307/1367674

[23] Züchner T, Boesman PFD (2020) Black-backed Thornbill (Ramphomicron dorsale), version 1.0. En: del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J, Christie DA, de Juana E (eds) Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blbtho1.01