In Texas, animal or plant species of conservation concern may be listed as threatened or endangered under the authority of state law and/or under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Species may be listed as state threatened or endangered and not federally listed. The state list deals only with the status of the species within Texas. A federal listing means that an animal is in decline throughout its entire range which may encompass several other states or nations. This series includes wildlife which may be close to extinction and is comprised of birds, fish, invertebrates, mammals, plants, amphibians and reptiles.
Xantus’ Hummingbird (Hylocharis xantusii)
Conservation Status: Classified as a species of “Least Concern,” meaning that they are in no danger of going extinct any time soon, although it is not known how many of the birds exist in the world.
Description: Xantus' hummingbird is a medium-sized hummingbird, with a wingspan of around 4 1/2 inches and a body length of around 3 to 4 inches. It weighs only about 1/10 oz., and has a mostly green body with a mask of black coloring over its face and a white stripe running down the back of its eyes. Its underbelly is described as having a cinnamon color with a dark orange tail.
Life History: Hummingbirds are solitary in all aspects of life other than breeding; and the male's only involvement in the reproductive process is the actual mating with the female. They neither live nor migrate in flocks; and there is no pair bond for this species. Males court females by flying in a u-shaped pattern in front of them. He will separate from the female immediately after copulation. One male may mate with several females. In all likelihood, the female will also mate with several males. The males do not participate in choosing the nest location, building the nest or raising the chicks.
The female is responsible for building the cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers woven together and green moss on the outside for camouflage in a protected location in a shrub, bush or tree. She lines the nest with soft plant fibers, animal hair and feather down, and strengthens the structure with spider webbing and other sticky material, giving it an elastic quality to allow it to stretch to double its size as the chicks grow and need more room. The nest is typically found on a low, thin horizontal branch.
The average clutch consists of two white eggs, which she incubates alone, while the male defends his territory and the flowers he feeds on. The young are born blind, immobile and without any down.
The female alone protects and feeds the chicks with regurgitated food (mostly partially-digested insects since nectar is an insufficient source of protein for the growing chicks). The female pushes the food down the chicks' throats with her long bill directly into their stomachs.
As is the case with other hummingbird species, the chicks are brooded only the first week or two, and left alone even on cooler nights after about 12 days - probably due to the small nest size. The chicks leave the nest when they are about 20 days old.
Habitat: The geography of Xantus' hummingbird may seem varied, but this is probably due to vagrant species that occasionally fly much farther north than others. Most of the population, which is abundant, is concentrated in Mexico or the Baja Peninsula. The bird makes its home in bushes, canyons, forests and home gardens.
Distribution: The Xantus's Hummingbird is native to the southern Baja Peninsula of Mexico (Baja California) and Jacques Cousteau Island aka Cerralvo Island (uninhabited island located off the coast of the Cerralvo Channel in Baja California Sur). They sporadically visit the Isla San José (an island in the Gulf of California, off the east coast of the Baja California peninsula).
Because this series is quite a distance from my house, maintenance is rather difficult. Log's get wet, containers break, and sometimes caches just flat go missing. If you dont find the cache, and believe it to be gone, or it needs maintenance, please feel free to make it whole again. As a thank you, you may add a second log to any that you do maintenance on. And thanks for the help.