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Mango on 11/28/00



Excellent comments from Sue Pulsipher on the mango. I too saw the mango on
Tuesday, and I have a few points to add.

In the two hours I was there on Tuesday, the bird appeared about eight
times. Mostly, it was in the neighbor's yard, which puts it in backlight
during the morning hours. It seemed to favor the tulip poplar tree on the
far side of the neighbor's aboveground pool. It also flitted around the
trees in the neighbor's front yard and side yard (on the far side of the
house.) It didn't always feed on each visit.

It was absent for as much as a half an hour at a time. Sue speculates it is
visiting another feeder somewhere.

At one point, it perched in the poplar for over ten minutes, giving us a
chance to study it closely in scopes. I noticed a thin line of cinnamon
drawn across the white of the side of its throat. So, the cinnamon is not
bordered by green, as illustrated in the NG guide. I noticed no cinnamon on
its side, but the light was poor. There is a fairly large white spot on its
side, under or just in front of the wing.

The elongated diamond-shaped stripe down the center of throat and breast
makes the bird look exotic. The tail appears cinnamon, with the light
streaming through it; but I detected a pale purple around the under coverts.
The white tail tips are clearly evident. The curved bill and bright green
back are also clear. The wing beats are noticeably slower than a
ruby-throat.

Shantanu Phukan's comments on the origin of the word "mango" are
interesting. I will only add that the Jamaican Mango has a specific name of
"mango". I also wonder about the generic name: Anthracothorax. I wonder if
it could be related to "anthos", which means flower.

David Shuford
Winston-Salem, NC
des@netmcr.com