Purple-Throated Mountaingem

dinsha (64)in #animals • 9 years ago

Purple-Throated Mountaingem

The purple-throated mountaingem is a beautiful hummingbird which breeds in the mountains of southern Nicaragua, northern Costa Rica and western Panama. This bird inhabits forested areas in hilly terrain.

The white-throated and gray-tailed mountaingems are its close relatives witch breeds in the southern Costa Rica. These three species form a closely related group that evolved some 3.5 million years ago and has diversified since.

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Scientific name : Lampornis calolaemus
Food : These bird eat throughout the day and can consume more than their body weight in a single day. They like nectar from flowers, small spiders and insects (for protein).
Activity :They are diurnal.At night they find a safe place to perch and fall into a very deep sleep called torpor , in witch their metabolism slows to one fifteenth of their normal rate.
Territory : The male of this species will aggressively defend hie feeding territory. Which includes plants and flowers in the area and dominate over other hummingbirds.
Interesting facts : Hummingbird's wings can beat more than 60 times per second in normal flight and during high speed flight up to 200 times per second.