A hummingbird surprise in La Laguna

Cinnamon Hummingbird, 3 July 2011, Jardin Botánico La Laguna

Today, Roselvy and I went to the botanical garden La Laguna in Antiguo Cuscatlán, a suburb of San Salvador. The birding there is rarely spectacular, but it's a neat little spot that's easy to get to. I've written about previous visits here and here and also here.

Plain-capped Starthroat, 3 July 2011, Jardin Botánico La Laguna

At least two hummingbird species are resident in the garden, and are always observed when we go there: Cinnamon Hummingbird and Plain-capped Starthroat. The former is really the default hummingbird anywhere in the city; no matter how small a garden, if it has flowers, chances are those flowers are visited by this species. The latter is more localized in the area, but often one of the first birds heard when entering the botanical garden.

In September and October, a third species - Green-breasted Mango - can be very common in the botanical garden, with sometimes up to 10 individuals present. Today, we were rather surprised to find an immature male of this species!

immature male Green-breasted Mango, 3 July 2011, Jardin Botánico La Laguna

Immatures look similar to females, with white median underparts and a dark central stripe, but are distinguished from adult females by the presence of cinnamon borders surrounding the white on the underparts. This particular individual shows dark green feathers coming in on the belly and breast, and thus is molting from immature to adult male plumage. The outer tail feathers look rather abraded, and haven't been molted yet. (The cinnamon color in the proximal part of the rectrices in the photo is odd: possibly an artifact of backlighting.)

Green-breasted Mangos are found from Mexico to Costa Rica, with additional disjunct populations in northern South America. The species is migratory in the northern part of its range (northeastern Mexico). Last year, when I noted an influx of individuals into the botanical garden in September, I assumed these were Mexican migrants. According to Howell & Webb (1995), Green-breasted Mango breeds in eastern El Salvador and is a winter visitor in central and western El Salvador (and thus in the greater San Salvador area).

Curious then to find this individual here in early July!

Reference:
Howell, S. N. G. and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK.

Molting starthroats

Plain-capped Starthroat preening

I've been frequenting the San Salvador botanical garden lately, which is only a 15 minute bus ride from my apartment, and offers opportunity for study of hummingbirds. Sadly, it is not the oasis of tranquility it could be, and many botanical gardens across the world often are. The garden is located inside an old volcano crater, right next to a noisy factory, and practically every weekday and Saturday gets inundated with school kids. Despite all that, the garden boasts a number of flowering trees and shrubs, and these of course attract hummingbirds.

The Plain-capped Starthroats I reported on a couple of weeks ago, have become regulars for me. These birds very likely are residents of the garden, and possibly breed there.

I've noticed that at least one of these birds is in flight feather molt, i.e. undergoing a post-breeding prebasic molt.

The photo at the top of a bird preening is of poor quality, but shows a spread wing with all six secondaries. Clearly visible are new (darker) S1 and S2, an ingrowing S3, and old (paler) S4-6. Click on the photos for bigger views.

Plain-capped Starthroat

The bird in this photo, taken in the botanical garden also but on a different day, could be the same individual, or could be its mate. Note that this bird is molting its central rectrices. This photo too is heavily cropped, and of poor quality. Still, we can see molt centers in the wings also: both in the secondaries and primaries.

Last week I noted the arrival of Green-breasted Mangos in the garden. First there was one adult male. Last Saturday, that male was gone but a female was there. And Sunday, I found no less than five males and a female, all in the same tree! I wonder if these birds are passing through, or will spend the winter in the botanical garden.

Plain-capped Starthroats

Spurred on by a sighting of a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher outside SalvaNATURA's office yesterday - yet another sign that autumn bird migration has reached El Salvador - I birded the Botanical Garden briefly this morning. I found very little in the way of neotropical migrants, but I did stumble across a couple of Plain-capped Starthroats, which I had never seen in the city before. Later, I searched for city records in the SalvaNATURA database, but found only a 2008 record for the somewhat similar Long-billed Starthroat - at the exact same location. I found none for its Plain-capped cousin.

Plain-capped Starthroat is not that rare, although I suspect it is quite rare within the city limits of San Salvador.