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Re: Green-breasted Mango



[forwarded from birdchat by carolinabirds-owner]

Neva et al.,

At 10:37 AM 11/24/00 EST, Neva Pruess wrote:

>Has the origin of this bird been questioned or investigated?  A couple ye=
ars
>ago Midwest birders were very excited about a hummer in Des Moines, Iowa
>which had been identified as a Buff-bellied. Then a closer examination of
>photos changed the ID to Amazilia amazilia and guess what?  The local
>botanical dome seemed to missing one of their hummingbirds.

Your question is a good one.  I don't know what research has been done
regarding that question, but any time a bird is found so very far from its
known range, that is a question that should be asked.

However, I think it is likely that this Green-breasted Mango is a legitima=
te
wild [countable] bird.  Permit me to explain.  Last year while researching=
 a
not-yet-published article on Green Violet-ears I had to address the concer=
n
that members of that species discovered extralimitally might be escapees
from captivity, so I did some research on what species were being kept in
public exhibits and on imports of hummingbirds.  Because of my own interes=
t
in extralimital records, I also looked into Green-breasted Mango imports.

As of July 1999, there were no Green-breasted Mangos held in any zoo in th=
e
world.  Additionally, no member of the genus Anthracorax had been imported
into the United States within the last few years [it isn't possible to go
back more than 5 years].  Given that the individual in North Carolina is a=
n
immature, the research I did is not applicable, so the powers that be in
North Carolina will have to do their own research.  But the trends in
trochilid imports would infer that it is extremely unlikely that this bird
was of captive origin.

According to my source at the UWFWS, the only hummers imported in the last
few years had come from Peru.  The two most commonly imported species were
Colibri coruscans [Sparkling Violet-ear] and Amazilia amazilia [Amazilia
Hummingbird].

From a practical standpoint, I doubt that a Green-breasted Mango would mak=
e
a good aviary subject, at least not in one with other hummingbirds.  They
are quite large and would likely dominate all the feeders.  It would be so=
rt
of like putting a Large-mouthed Bass in a Guppy tank.

By the way, while doing this research, I also checked records of Xantus's
Hummingbird and found that there were none in any collection worldwide and
there had been none imported into the United States.  I did this because o=
f
the controversy and subsequent rarities committee rejection of a member of
that species that appeared in British Columbia a few years ago.  I have no
way to check any Canadian imports, but doubt that Xantus's Hummingbirds ha=
ve
ever been in the avicultural trade.

As I recall, that record was rejected because some members of that committ=
ee
simply could not believe the bird had gotten there on its own.  I seem to
remember some conjecture that it might have stowed away on the deck of a
cruise ship, a theory that is kinkier and less likely than the bird having
gotten to British Columbia by going astray and wandering.

NLN






Nancy L. Newfield
Casa Colibr=ED=A9
Metairie, Louisiana USA
<colibri@gs.verio.net>