The Purple-backed Sunbeam, Aglaeactis aliciae, is a bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Trochilidae. It is found only in Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

.

Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

 and plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

s. It is threatened by habitat loss.

It was formerly classified as Critically Endangered

Critically Endangered

Critically Endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN Red List for wild species. Critically Endangered means that a species' numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations....

 by the IUCN. But new research has shown that although hardly any natural habitat is left, this species is still a bit more numerous than it was believed. Consequently, it is downlisted to Endangered status in 2008.

Biology
The unique shoulder structure of hummingbirds allows the wings to beat tremendously fast in a figure eight motion, allowing the birds to maintain a hovering motion at the same time as feeding, with up to 200 wing beats per second. Due to this highly energetic behavior, hummingbirds feed almost solely on nectar (carbohydrate-rich sugar secretions of plants), feeding on as many as 1,000 to 2,000 flowers a day. Hummingbirds have the highest oxygen necessity of any vertebrate, and due to this, have a breathing rate of up to 500 breaths per minute, as well as distinctively formed lungs. These physiological variations have permitted hummingbirds to occupy a diverse group of habitats and elevations throughout the Americas.
There is limited information about the precise biology of the purple-backed sunbeam. However, it has been seen feeding on the orange-red flowers of parasitic mistletoe on Alnus trees, by using its specialized bill and long, sensitive tongue to derive the nectar. Like with most other hummingbirds, the purple-backed sunbeam is said to be solitary, and insistently territorial. Males mate with several females, but have no part in raising the offspring. The female is solely responsible for nest-building, incubation, and nurturing the hatchlings. The purple-backed sunbeam’s nest has never been seen, but it is believed that the species build nests close to a nectar source, on branches hidden from direct sunlight. In most hummingbirds, two oval-shaped eggs are laid, which are incubated for around 16 to 19 days. The chicks remain in the nest between 23 to 26 days after hatching.

Habitat

The purple-backed sunbeam is known to live in the temperate zone (2,900-3,500 m) where plant life consists of mountain shrubs and Alnus trees. It feeds on mistletoe alders and other trees, such as Tristerix longebrachteatum, and in patches of flowering uñico, Oreocallis grandiflora. It has also recently been reported to feed and settle in the newly introduced Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

trees, however, the species' level of tolerance of Eucalyptus plantations (specifically as breeding habitat) is yet to be determined. There are no definite conservation procedures for the purple-backed sunbeam. Additional research is needed to examine the species’ ecological requirements, so that the suitability of Eucalyptus plantations can be assessed.

Ecological Role

Flower herbivory and pollination have been described as interactive processes that influence each other in their impact on a plant’s reproductive success. In the presence of hummingbirds, undamaged flowers experienced a production that was 1.7-fold higher than for damaged flowers, which suggests that the effect of flower damage on female reproductive success likely happens as a result of hummingbird intolerance for damaged corollas. This result shows that the impact of flower herbivory on plant productiveness was dependent on the presence or absence of hummingbirds. Hummingbirds play an important role of pollinators to many of their food plants, some of which have coevolved with the birds; at least 58 plant families are pollinated in Brazil alone, the main one among them is the Bromeliaceous.

Threats

The greatest threat to the purple-backed sunbeam is the transfer of Alnus dominated shrub land to Eucalyptus plantations. This transfer involves the removal of the parasitic mistletoe on which it feeds. The species’ limited range also makes it susceptible to the effects of natural events, such as disease and drought. Historically, the Maranon River landscape has experienced high levels of habitat renovation from cultivation, and much of the original natural habitat has been lost, or continues to be degraded. Cattle ranching, logging and firewood collecting has taken away much of the forest habitat, while oil mining is a latent future concern.

Population and Conservation Status

The low population number, which is estimated at less than 1,000 birds, may indicate that it has an extremely low hereditary diversity. The Maranon valley, habitat to the purple-backed sunbeam, is a region of high preservation importance, as its remoteness and distinctive habitats, have led to a high degree of endemism. A total of twenty two bird species are endemic to the valley, and as a result it has been selected as a Birdlife International Endemic Bird Area (EBA). The Maranon valley has also been selected as part of the Maranon-Alto Mayo Conservation corridor, because it supports a high number of conservation precedence areas. The American Bird Conservancy has been working to analyze the allocation of rare bird species within the Maranon valley, and classify the areas and habitats that need protection. A diverse array of preservation strategies have been proposed, including strict protected area rank, sustainable conservation, and community owned nature reserves. Currently, 0.1 percent of the Maranon valley has any legal defense and these measures need to be implemented immediately.

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet.