In the Edwards Plateau region of Texas, a Green Violetear was confirmed from photos taken by the bird's finder, Delyse Jaeger at Eaton Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonora, Texas. The Edwards Plateau has been the location for many of the Texas records of this species, Colibri thalassinus, many reported from mid-May through July (TOS Handbook of Texas Birds, Lockwood and Freeman).
This ABA Code-3 species is common in the Mexican Highlands and can be found south to the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and extreme northwest Argentina (Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World, Sixth Edition). Farther south in its highland range, Green Viloetear is fond of the common Inga and Erythrina trees, ones that are planted for the overstory of shade coffee plantations where the birds may be seen singing their monotonous "song" on exposed twigs; the males often with their violet "ears" flared (Birds of Northern South American, Vol. 1, Restall et al. ). The A.O.U. Check-list Committee recently decided to remove the hyphen that used to separate violet from ear.
Comments