Calliope Hummingbird (Stellula calliope)

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Calder ◽  
Lorene L. Calder
Keyword(s):  
Stellula Calliope

scholarly journals Wing, tail, and vocal contributions to the complex acoustic signals of courting Calliope hummingbirds

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher James Clark
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Signals ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Frequency Tone ◽  
Single Mechanism ◽  
Sound Pulses ◽  
Stellula Calliope ◽  
Courtship Displays

Abstract Multi-component signals contain multiple signal parts expressed in the same physical modality. One way to identify individual components is if they are produced by different physical mechanisms. Here, I studied the mechanisms generating acoustic signals in the courtship displays of the Calliope hummingbird Stellula calliope. Display dives consisted of three synchronized sound elements, a high-frequency tone (hft), a low frequency tone (lft), and atonal sound pulses (asp), which were then followed by a frequency-modulated fall. Manipulating any of the rectrices (tail-feathers) of wild males impaired production of the lft and asp but not the hft or fall, which are apparently vocal. I tested the sound production capabilities of the rectrices in a wind tunnel. Single rectrices could generate the lft but not the asp, whereas multiple rectrices tested together produced sounds similar to the asp when they fluttered and collided with their neighbors percussively, representing a previously unknown mechanism of sound production. During the shuttle display, a trill is generated by the wings during pulses in which the wingbeat frequency is elevated to 95 Hz, 40% higher than the typical hovering wingbeat frequency. The Calliope hummingbird courtship displays include sounds produced by three independent mechanisms, and thus include a minimum of three acoustic signal components. These acoustic mechanisms have different constraints and thus potentially contain different messages. Producing multiple acoustic signals via multiple mechanisms may be a way to escape the constraints present in any single mechanism.

Economics of Breeding Territoriality in Male Calliope Hummingbirds

The Auk ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug P. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
North American ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Territorial Behavior ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Stellula Calliope ◽  
Lines Of Evidence ◽  
Nectar Availability

Abstract Several lines of evidence indicate that the territorial behavior of postbreeding North American hummingbirds can be explained in primarily energetic terms. The territoriality of breeding males, however, may be different in that it may play an important role in courtship. The results of this study on breeding male Calliope Hummingbirds (Stellula calliope) indicated that territoriality could not be explained either directly or indirectly in terms of defense of energy resources. Throughout the 2-month breeding season, flower sampling indicated that males could have obtained energy faster by foraging on nearby undefended areas than by foraging on their territories. In June there were no profitable flowers on the territories, and males did all or nearly all of their foraging away from their territories. In May, when territory nectar availability was fairly high, males did not leave, expand, or shift their territories in response to experimental exclosure of all profitable flowers on those territories. I suggest that males may have preferentially selected territory sites with prominent perches near females' nesting areas, and that these considerations outweighed the potential benefits of defending territories on areas with high-quality nectar resources.

Brain temperature in the calliope hummingbird (Stellula calliope): a species lacking arete mirabile ophthalmicum

1987 ◽  
Vol 157 (5) ◽  
pp. 583-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Burgoon ◽  
Delbert L. Kilgore ◽  
Philip J. Motta
Keyword(s):  
Brain Temperature ◽  
Stellula Calliope
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