Antilles crested hummingbird (Green-headed hummingbird)

Orthorhyncus cristatus**

 The Antilles crested hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus) is a species of bird in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae). The distribution area includes Barbados, Grenadines, Grenada, St. Vincent, the east of Puerto Rico and extends south over the Lesser Antilles to St. Lucia. The IUCN assesses the population as Least Concern.

The male Antilles crested hummingbird reaches a body length of 8–9.5 cm at a weight of 4 g, the female at 3.5 g also reaches a body length of 8–9.5 cm. The male has a straight, short black beak. The head has a green crest that is speckled metallic green to bright blue. The upper side is colored matt metallic bronze green, the underside sooty black. The black tail is rounded. The beak of the female is similar to that of the male. They have no comb on their heads. The front of the head, the top of the head and the top are metallic bronze green. The underside is light gray. The rounded tail, which is also black, is broadly white-gray speckled on the outer control feathers. Immature Antilles hummingbirds resemble the females, but the head feathers are tinted a cinnamon brown.

They feed on the nectar of flowering bushes such as kerosene and milkweed, vine plants and the lower areas of hedges and trees such as hibiscus, Bauhinien, Tabebuia and Delonix. In addition, they collect smaller arthropods from the plants or chase insects out of the air.

They breed all year round, but mostly from March to June. They attach their chalice-shaped nest to thin twigs or tendrils at heights between one and three meters above the ground. Often these are covered by leaves. The inside of the nest is lined with soft plant fibers, the outside is decorated with smaller dead leaves. The clutch consists of two eggs with a breeding time by the female of 17 to 19 days. The nestlings are dark gray. They fledge at around 19 to 21 days. The young stay with their mother for three to four weeks. They have their first brood in the second year of life.

The call sounds like a short tsip or a long series of tsli-tsli-tsli-tsli sounds.

Source: IUCN Red Animal List

The Antilles' Hummingbird prefers to be found in open vegetation, parks and gardens, plantations and on the edges of forests at altitudes below 500 meters. They are considered to be resident birds with smaller migrations to higher altitudes in July and August.

Carl von Linnéa described the hummingbird under the name Trochilus cristatus. He generally gave America as home. In 1799, Bernard Germain Lacépède introduced the genus Orthorhyncus. This name is derived from the Greek »orthos ορθος« for »straight« and »rhynchos ῥυγχος« for »beak«. The species name »cristatus« is the Latin word for »haubig, kammig, bushy«. "Ornatus" is the Latin word for "decorated". "Exilis" is also Latin and means "small, narrow, slim".

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