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  Profile

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  In flight

Hummingbirds

White-necked Jacobin

Florisuga mellivora

• rare
• 56 km/h
• Least Concern

About 20% of females develop full male plumage. Evolution is still deciding. Bold blue head, white belly, maximum confusion.

Population

5,000,000–50,000,000 mature individuals globally (Partners in Flight 2019 estimate, cited in the current IUCN assessment); population trend is decreasing (moderate decline).

Habitat

Canopy and edges of humid lowland forest, also semi-open landscapes such as secondary forest, gallery forest, and shaded coffee/cacao plantations; from sea level to about 900 m elevation.

Fun fact

Although it does not hold a permanent feeding territory of its own, the White-necked Jacobin is notably pugnacious, often aggressively chasing other hummingbirds away from a flowering tree it is currently visiting.

Range

Southern Mexico through Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama) into northern and central South America — Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil — plus Trinidad and Tobago.

Diet

Primarily nectar from flowering trees, epiphytes, shrubs, and Heliconia; supplements with small arthropods/insects caught by hawking, hovering, darting, or sallying from perches.

Size

0.115 m