Microchera albocoronata is a small hummingbird, averaging 6.5 cm long and weighing 2.5 g (Stiles & Skutch 1989). Males can be easily identified with its metallic red coloration and white crown. Females can be identified by the metallic green upper surface, greyish white underparts, and bronze on the upper tail coverts (Wetmore 1968). It can be found from Southern Honduras to Western Panama in forest habitats, usually foraging in the canopy of tropical moist montane forests (Fogden & Fogden 2005). It is fairly uncommon on the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica between 300 and 900 m elevation (Garrigues & Dean 2014). Microchera albocoronata is considered a nectarivorous hummingbird, feeding mainly on small flowers (Garrigues & Dean 2014), as well as arthropods (Remsen et al. 1986). Nests are generally cup-shaped, made from numerous fibrous materials such as lichens, moss, tree ferns, and spider webs. These nests hang from trees, and eggs are long and elliptical (Marin & Schmitt 1991). They are considered of least concern in terms of conservation status (BirdLife International 2012).
Microchera albocoronata is a Neotropical hummingbird that is endemic from Southern Honduras to Western Panama (Garrigues & Dean 2014). They prefer forest habitats, from subtropical to tropical moist montane forests, where it can be found as a resident hummingbird (Stiles & Skutch 1989, Wetmore 1968). In Costa Rica, specifically, Microchera albocoronata is uncommon on the Caribbean slope between 300 and 900 m elevation (Garrigues & Dean 2014).
The adult male Microchera alborcoronata can be identified with its bright, metallic, reddish-purple coloration, extending from the back to the wing coverts. This metallic red is brighter on the rump and upper tail coverts. The under-tail coverts are white. The adult male also has a white crown. The upper surface of adult females is a metallic green, which changes to bronze on the upper tail coverts, and the under parts are a greyish-white color. The rest of the tail is white, black at the end, and tipped with white. Immature males look very similar to adult females, with the exception of a white narrow strip above the eye (Wetmore 1968). Microchera albocoronata have a straight bill (Stiles 1985).
Microchera alborcoronata are nectarivorous, feeding primarily on small flowers in the canopy and edge of mature wet forest and second growth forests (Garrigues & Dean 2014). They typically feed on flowers of trees (Warscewiczia, Inga, and Pithecellobium), vines (Guarania), shrubs (Hamelia), and epiphytes (Norantea and Cavendishia) (Stiles & Skutch 1989). They also frequently eat arthropods (Remsen et al 1986).
Microchera alborcoronata breeds at lower mid-elevations between 300 and 700m on the Caribbean slope (Fogden & Fogden 2005). After the breeding season, a few individuals ascend to 1,000 m but most descend to the foothills (Fogden & Fogden 2005). Nests are cup shaped, and can be made from moss mixed with lichens and other greens, tree ferns, spider webs, and other fibrous materials. They are placed 1.7 – 3m up on twigs or vines (Stiles & Skutch 1989). Nests typically hang from larger trees or vines (Stiles & Skutch 1989). Eggs are long, elliptical in shape, and white (Marin & Schmitt 1991).
Microchera alborcoronata makes a soft, high-pitched, dry tsp sound. Males have a longer melody: tsitsup tsitsup tsitsup tsew ttttt-tsew (Stiles & Skutch 1989).
The snowcap (Microchera albocoronata) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.[3][4]
The snowcap has two subspecies, the nominate M. a. albocoronata and M. a. parvirostris.[3] The nominate was originally described as Mellisuga albo-coronata and the other as Panychlora parvirostris.[5]
The snowcap is 6.5 to 7 cm (2.6 to 2.8 in) long and weighs about 2.7 g (0.095 oz). Both sexes of both subspecies have a short black bill and black legs. Adult males of both subspecies have the white forehead and crown that give this species its English and scientific names. Males of the nominate subspecies have dark purple upperparts with a purplish black nape and a reddish gloss on the back, rump, and uppertail coverts. Their face and underparts are black with a reddish purple gloss. Their central tail feathers are metallic bronze and the rest have white bases and black ends. Males of M. a. parvirostris differ by having less white on the tail feathers and a brighter coppery purple gloss to their upper- and underparts. Adult females of both subspecies have a metallic green back with bronze uppertail coverts. Their underparts are pale grayish white. Their central tail feathers are bronze and the outer ones mostly black with white at the base and on the tips. Immature males are like the adult female with the addition of a narrow white line above the eye and a gradual change of the whitish underparts to purplish black.[5]
Subspecies M. a. parvirostris is the more northerly and widely distributed of the two. It is found on the Caribbean slope of Central America from southern Honduras through Nicaragua and Costa Rica and possibly into western Panama; it also occurs locally on Costa Rica's Pacific slope. The nominate M. a. albocoronata is found on the Caribbean and Pacific slopes of western Panama. The species inhabits humid lowland and montane forest, semi-open woodlands, and secondary forest. It is more common at openings in the forest and more open landscapes such as plantations than deep in the forest. In Costa Rica it breeds mostly at elevations between 300 and 800 m (980 and 2,600 ft) but locally as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft). In Panama it is found between 600 and 1,650 m (2,000 and 5,400 ft).[5]
In Costa Rica, snowcaps mostly descend to lower elevations after breeding but a few individuals wander higher than their breeding zone to about 1,400 m (4,600 ft).[5]
Snowcaps forage for nectar at all heights of their habitat, from the understory to the canopy. Males defend feeding territories from other snowcaps but defer to larger hummingbirds. They typically take nectar from small flowers of epiphytes, shrubs, vines, and trees. In addition to feeding on nectar, snowcaps glean arthropods from foliage, and males take small insects by hawking from a perch.[5]
In Costa Rica snowcaps breed between January and May; their season elsewhere has not been defined. Males court females at leks in loose groups of up to six, singing from a perch and chasing other males. Females build a small cup nest of tree fern scales and plant down bound with spiderweb, with some moss and lichen on the outside. It is typically placed on a twig or dangling vine between 1.7 and 3 m (6 and 10 ft) above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs; the incubation period and time to fledging are not known.[5]
The male snowcap's song is "a soft, sputtering, warbling melody: tsitsup tsitsup tsitsup tsew ttttt-tsew or tsip-tsee tsippy tsippy tsippy tsip-tick tsew." One call is "a soft, high-pitched, dry tsip", and it makes "buzzy notes and chatters in aggressive interactions".[5]
The IUCN has assessed the snowcap as being of Least Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified by the IUCN.[1] In Costa Rica it is locally common, but "severe deforestation threatens many parts of its range".[5]
The snowcap (Microchera albocoronata) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
