Mexican hermit
{{short description|Species of hummingbird}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2021}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Mexican Hermit.jpg
| image_caption = Mexican hermit in Oaxaca
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}
| genus = Phaethornis
| species = mexicanus
| authority = Hartert, EJO, 1897
| range_map = Phaethornis mexicanus map.svg
}}
The Mexican hermit (Phaethornis mexicanus) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is endemic to Mexico.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/ |title=IOC World Bird List (v 11.2) |last1=Gill |first1= F. |last2=Donsker|first2=D.|last3=Rasmussen |first3=P. |date=July 2021 |access-date=July 14, 2021 }}
Taxonomy and systematics
The Mexican hermit was previously treated as a subspecies of the long-billed hermit (Phaethornis longirostris). Following two 2013 publications, the North American Classification Committee (NACC) of the American Ornithological Society in 2015 recognized it as a separate species. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World followed suit.{{cite journal|author=R. Terry Chesser|author2= Richard C. Banks|author3= Kevin J. Burns|author4= Carla Cicero|author5= Jon L. Dunn|author6= Andrew W. Kratter|author7= Irby J. Lovette|author8= Adolfo G. Navarro-Sigüenza|author9= Pamela C. Rasmussen |author10= J. V. Remsen, Jr.|author11= James D. Rising|author12= Douglas F. Stotz|author13= Kevin Winker |title=Fifty-sixth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union|series=Check-list of North American Birds|journal= The Auk: Ornithological Advances|year= 2015|volume= 132|pages=748–764}}{{cite web|author=Clements, J. F.|author2= T. S. Schulenberg|author3= M. J. Iliff|author4= S. M. Billerman|author5= T. A. Fredericks|author6= J. A. Gerbracht|author7= D. Lepage|author8= B. L. Sullivan |author9= C. L. Wood|year= 2021|title= The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World|volume=2021 |url= https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ |access-date= August 25, 2021}}HBW and BirdLife International (2020) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip [.xls zipped 1 MB] retrieved May 27, 2021
The Mexican hermit has two subspecies, the nominate P. m. mexicanus and P. m. griseoventer.
Description
The Mexican hermit is {{cvt|16|to|17|cm|in}} long. The nominate subspecies has a dusky crown and bronzy green nape and upperparts. The rump feathers are bronzy green with cinnamon edges and the tail is black with white tips to the feathers. The face has black cheeks and pale cinnamon stripes behind the eye and below the cheek. The throat is mostly pale buff and the rest of the underparts are dusky brownish gray with a cinnamon wash on the belly. P. m. griseoventer is slightly paler overall; its crown is dull greenish, its throat stripe whitish to pale buff, and it has more white on the central tail feathers.{{cite taxon|BOW|author=del Hoyo, J.|author2= N. Collar|author3= G. M. Kirwan|author4= P. F. D. Boesman |year=2020|title= Mexican Hermit (Phaethornis mexicanus)|version=1.0|doi=10.2173/bow.mexher1.01 |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/mexher1/cur/introduction|access-date= December 9, 2021}}
Distribution and habitat
The Mexican hermit is found in two separate areas of Mexico's Pacific coast. The nominate P. m. mexicanus occurs to the southwest from western Guerrero south to southeastern Oaxaca. P. m. griseoventer occurs further north, between Nayarit and Colima. The species inhabits the interior and edges of humid evergreen forest, Heliconia thickets, and ravines in semi-deciduous woodlands. In elevation it ranges from sea level to about {{cvt|2000|m|ft|-1}}.
Behavior
=Movement=
=Feeding=
=Breeding=
Almost nothing is known about the Mexican hermit's breeding phenology. Nests with eggs were found in late May and early July.
{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Phaethornis-mexicanus |species=Mexican hermit}}
=Vocalization=
The song of the Mexican hermit's P. m. griseoventer subspecies is "a continuous series of single, metallic notes...'chieh...chieh...chieh...'." Its call is "a shrill, slurred, relatively drawn-out 'skweih'". The vocalizations of the nominate P. m. mexicanus have not been documented. However, both subspecies are known to sing at leks of four to six males.
Status
The IUCN has assessed the Mexican hermit as being of Least Concern. Its population is estimated to be at least 20,000 mature individuals but is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.