Багама ағашқұсы: сипаттамасы мен өмір салты

Species of bird

The Bahama woodstar or Bahama hummingbird (Nesophlox evelynae) is a species of hummingbird endemic to the Lucayan archipelago, including the Bahamian and Turks and Caicos islands. It is named the "hummer" by locals due to a distinct humming sound it makes while feeding. The Bahama woodstar in particular belongs to the "bee clade", the youngest and most extensively diversifying clade. Relationships between species and genera of this clade are still being re evaluated. The Bahama woodstar is one of the species which has been recently re evaluated, having used to contain two subspecies of woodstars: Nesophlox evelynae evelynae and Nesophlox "evelynae" lyura (also known as the Inagua woodstar). In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the Bahama woodstar was moved to the resurrected genus Nesophlox.

The Bahama woodstar is a small hummingbird, growing to be only about in length. These birds weigh around Their backs are green and gold, with olive buff underparts, and flanks fading into white (males) or cinnamon (females). Wings are brown and their tails appear a blackish purple. Males have a fork shaped tail while females display a more rounded tail with wider feathers. Males have bright purple iridescent gorgets lined with a white stripe, which dull out as breeding season ends. Females do not have the purple throat or white stripe. Both males and females have black, slightly curved bills and black feet.

The Bahama woodstar is distributed around the Lucayan Archipelago, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, and with exception to the Inaguan islands. It has also been recorded multiple times in Florida, United States. In April 2013, a bird was seen for three days at a feeder in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They are less plentiful on the Grand Bahama, Abaco and Andros Islands that house the Cuban emerald, an introduced hummingbird which shows competitive aggression towards the Bahama woodstar. Bahama woodstars are found in many different habitats such as gardens, scrubland, both secondary growth and dry lowland, the edges of tropical evergreen forests and pine forests.

Bahama woodstars mainly suck up nectar from local plants On the Abaco Islands, one of these plants include Ernodea serratifolia. They visit the flowers during the mornings and evenings. Lacerations can be seen in the tubular corollas of the flowers, where the beaks of these birds and other hummingbird species took the nectar. They may also feed on insects.

Breeding season is mainly in April, but Bahama woodstars may also breed year round. During the breeding season, males court females using two courting displays: shuttle displays, broken into shuttle segments which are periods of side to side flight and aerial dives. Shuttle displays include three forms: initial, typical and alternate. The initial shuttle is characterized by a brief shuttle segment followed by a period of hovering over the on looking female. Typical shuttle displays are characterized by rapid segments of repeated lateral flight around the female while constantly looking at her. Males will frequently change direction and angle of their flight. In addition, during the middle of the segment they will snap their tail to the side a few times. At the end of each segment, they beat their wings at a high intensity making a buzzing sound known as a wing trill The male will slowly decrease his distance from the female until he is only centimeters away from her. Alternate shuttle displays include shuttle segments and song while hovering over the female. Males sometimes only use one type of display, or they may use typical combined with alternate. Aerial dives have seldom been recorded, but are always demonstrated after shuttle displays. Males will zigzag up to heights of and then abruptly dive back down towards their perch, near the female. The nest is a small cup made of soft materials such as cotton and down, woven together with lichen and various plant materials such as twigs and bark The height of these nests varies, some recorded as low as 2 feet and as high as 12 feet. Females lay two white oval shaped eggs which incubate for approximately two weeks.