The nest and eggs of the Rufous-shafted Woodstar Chaetocercus jourdanii andinus, with a review on the breeding data for the genus

Vladislav Marcuk; Harold F. Greeney; Pascal Eckhoff

doi:10.56178/eh.v39i1.1473

Short Communications Published 15 June 2024 https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v39i1.1473

The nest and eggs of the Rufous-shafted Woodstar Chaetocercus jourdanii andinus, with a review on the breeding data for the genus

Chaetocercus egg collection hummingbird Salomón Briceño Gabaldón Venezuela

Vladislav Marcuk Free University of Berlin, Graduate Program, Faculty of Biology, Berlin, Germany

Harold F. Greeney Yanayacu Biological Station & Center for Creative Studies, Km 5, via Las Caucheras, Cosanga, Napo, Ecuador

Pascal Eckhoff Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Museum of Natural History Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, Berlin, Germany

Abstract

Egg collections represent a critical, though underutilized, source of sensitive biological data about a substantial proportion of avian taxa, and can help expand our knowledge of avian natural history and general biology. The breeding biology of the genus Chaetocercus remains considerably poorly studied, in particular of the Red-shafted Woodstar (Chaetocercus jourdanii). In this short note, we provide descriptions of the egg and nest of the Red-shafted Woodstar, based on the examination of eggs and nests preserved in the Western Foundation of Zoology (WFVZ) and Natural History Museum of Berlin (ZMB), respectively. The nest is typical for the genus Chaetocercus, a tiny cup composed predominantly of fine plant fibres and evenly covered externally with lichens. Eggs were collected in February and April, and clutches consisted of two uniform white eggs measuring, on average, 12.58 ± 0.18 mm × 7.74 ± 0.29 mm (n = 7). In addition, we provide a brief literature review about the basic breeding habits for the congeneric species, where we expand the information available for the closely related Gorgeted Woodstar (C. heliodor) by using additional nests from the ZMB collection.

PDF (Spanish)

References

Birdlife International (2024) Species factsheet: Chaetocercus jourdanii. (URL: http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rufous-shafted-woodstar-chaetocercus-jourdanii)
Del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargata J (1999) Handbook of the birds of the world, Vol. 5, Barn-owls to humming birds. Lynx Editions, Barcelona
Fjeldså J, Krabbe N (1990) Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen
Greeney HF, Juiña, ME (2020) Notas de reproducción de seis especies de colibríes de los Andes en Ecuador. Ornitología Colombiana 18:76-85
Hill A (undated) Ecuador Birds during Focus on Nature Tours: Hummingbirds to Flycatchers. Part 2 of a List of Ecuador Birds (URL: http://focusonnature.com/BirdListEcuadorPart2.htm)
Hilty SL, Brown WL (1986) A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton University Princeton Press, New Jersey
Hilty SL (2003) A guide to the birds of Venezuela. 2nd Edition. Princeton University Princeton Press New Jersey
Juiña ME, Harris JBC, Greeney HF, Hickma, BR (2010) Descripción del nido y cuido parental de la Estrellita Esmeraldeña (Chaetocercus berlepschi) en el occidente del Ecuador. Ornitología Neotropical 21(3):313-322
Kiff LF, Hough DJ, Norman O, Hall, S (1985) Inventory of bird egg collections of North America, 1985. American Ornithologists' Union and Oklahoma Biological Survey
Marcuk V, De Boer D (2021) Historical breeding records of the gorgeted woodstar (Chaetocercus heliodor, BOURCIER 1840) with the first description of the eggs. Boletin SAO 30(1-2):11-15
Marini M , Hall L, Bates J, Steinheime, FD, Mcgowa, R, Silveir, LF et al. (2020) The five million bird eggs in the world’s museum collections are an invaluable and underused resource. The Auk 137(4):ukaa036, https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/ukaa036
Nehrkorn A (1910) Katalog der Eiersammlung, nebst Beschreibungeh der aussereuropäischen Eier. R. Friedländer & Sohn
Nehrkorn A (1914) Nachträge zu Nehrkorn's Eierkatalog. R. Friedländer & Sohn
Oates EW, Reid, SG (1903) Catalogue of the collection of birds’ eggs in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume 3: Carinatae (Psittaciformes-Passeriformes). London, UK. British Museum of Natural History. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.123
Phelps WH, Phelps WH JR (1949) Seven new subspecies of birds from Venezuela. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 62:185-196
Schönwetter M (1960-1990) Handbuch der Oologie. Akademischer Verlag, Berlin
Schönwetter M (1966) Handbuch der Oologie. Lieferung 1: Band 11. Akademie Verlag Berlin, Germany
Winkler DW, Billerman SM, Lovette, IJ(2020) Hummingbirds (Trochilidae). Billerman SM, Keeney BK, Rodewald PG, Schulenberg TS (eds) Birds of the World. Version 1.0. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.trochi1.01
Züchner T, Kirwan GM (2020) Rufous-shafted Woodstar (Chaetocercus jourdanii). Del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J, Christie DA, De Juana E (eds) Birds of the World. Version 1.0. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ruswoo1.01
Züchner T, Boesman PFD, Kirwan, GM (2020) White-bellied Woodstar (Chaetocercus mulsant). Del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J, Christie DA y De Juana E (eds) Birds of the World. Version 1.0. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whbwoo6.01

How to cite

Vladislav Marcuk, Harold F. Greeney, Pascal Eckhoff (2024). The nest and eggs of the Rufous-shafted Woodstar Chaetocercus jourdanii andinus, with a review on the breeding data for the genus. El Hornero, Vol. 39 No. 1 (2024), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v39i1.1473

Downloads

1066Full-text views

1Formats

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

[1] Birdlife International (2024) Species factsheet: Chaetocercus jourdanii. (URL: http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rufous-shafted-woodstar-chaetocercus-jourdanii)

[2] Del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargata J (1999) Handbook of the birds of the world, Vol. 5, Barn-owls to humming birds. Lynx Editions, Barcelona

[3] Fjeldså J, Krabbe N (1990) Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen

[4] Greeney HF, Juiña, ME (2020) Notas de reproducción de seis especies de colibríes de los Andes en Ecuador. Ornitología Colombiana 18:76-85

[5] Hill A (undated) Ecuador Birds during Focus on Nature Tours: Hummingbirds to Flycatchers. Part 2 of a List of Ecuador Birds (URL: http://focusonnature.com/BirdListEcuadorPart2.htm)

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

[7] Hilty SL (2003) A guide to the birds of Venezuela. 2nd Edition. Princeton University Princeton Press New Jersey

[8] Juiña ME, Harris JBC, Greeney HF, Hickma, BR (2010) Descripción del nido y cuido parental de la Estrellita Esmeraldeña (Chaetocercus berlepschi) en el occidente del Ecuador. Ornitología Neotropical 21(3):313-322

[9] Kiff LF, Hough DJ, Norman O, Hall, S (1985) Inventory of bird egg collections of North America, 1985. American Ornithologists' Union and Oklahoma Biological Survey

[10] Marcuk V, De Boer D (2021) Historical breeding records of the gorgeted woodstar (Chaetocercus heliodor, BOURCIER 1840) with the first description of the eggs. Boletin SAO 30(1-2):11-15

[11] Marini M , Hall L, Bates J, Steinheime, FD, Mcgowa, R, Silveir, LF et al. (2020) The five million bird eggs in the world’s museum collections are an invaluable and underused resource. The Auk 137(4):ukaa036, https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/ukaa036

[12] Nehrkorn A (1910) Katalog der Eiersammlung, nebst Beschreibungeh der aussereuropäischen Eier. R. Friedländer & Sohn

[13] Nehrkorn A (1914) Nachträge zu Nehrkorn's Eierkatalog. R. Friedländer & Sohn

[14] Oates EW, Reid, SG (1903) Catalogue of the collection of birds’ eggs in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume 3: Carinatae (Psittaciformes-Passeriformes). London, UK. British Museum of Natural History. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.123

[15] Phelps WH, Phelps WH JR (1949) Seven new subspecies of birds from Venezuela. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 62:185-196

[16] Schönwetter M (1960-1990) Handbuch der Oologie. Akademischer Verlag, Berlin

[17] Schönwetter M (1966) Handbuch der Oologie. Lieferung 1: Band 11. Akademie Verlag Berlin, Germany

[18] Winkler DW, Billerman SM, Lovette, IJ(2020) Hummingbirds (Trochilidae). Billerman SM, Keeney BK, Rodewald PG, Schulenberg TS (eds) Birds of the World. Version 1.0. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.trochi1.01

[19] Züchner T, Kirwan GM (2020) Rufous-shafted Woodstar (Chaetocercus jourdanii). Del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J, Christie DA, De Juana E (eds) Birds of the World. Version 1.0. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ruswoo1.01

[20] Züchner T, Boesman PFD, Kirwan, GM (2020) White-bellied Woodstar (Chaetocercus mulsant). Del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J, Christie DA y De Juana E (eds) Birds of the World. Version 1.0. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whbwoo6.01