Booted Racket-tail Hummingbird
Scientific name: Ocreatus underwoodii
Identification: The tail of this hummingbird is split into what can be compared
to two tennis rackets with elongate handles and small heads.
Habitat and range: This hummer can be found in the rainforests of Peru.
FYI: "Hummingbirds lose power at high altitudes" is the title of
a press release from UCBerkeleyNews (16 December 2004). In Peru, researchers from
the University of California, Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology
tested nearly 1,000 Peruvian hummers and determined that there was a clear decline
in the lifting ability of the hummingbird at higher elevations, where the air is
thinner and the oxygen is lower. Their research demonstrated that the loss of power
and maneuverability of the hummer affects which birds dominate and control the territory.
Researchers were attempting to determine what challenges face hummingbirds at high
altitudes, and why don't all hummingbirds move up higher, where there is less competition
for food and mountain flowers are even more attractive to hummingbirds. Source:
UCBerkeleyNews Breeding for the hummingbird
takes place during the spring in temperate areas, i.e., North America, and during
the rainy season in the tropics. Source: Donald F. Bruning, "Hummingbird,"
World Book Encyclopedia, 2005, Vol. 9, pp. 433
Pictures: click picture(s) for larger version, photo credits, and description.