Eupherusa ridgwayi
The Mexican Woodnymph (Eupherusa ridgwayi) is a striking, medium-sized hummingbird, endemic to the humid forests of Western Mexico. Males boast a dazzling iridescent emerald green plumage across their body and crown, contrasted sharply by a black tail with distinctive white outer tail feathers and unique rufous underwing coverts, a key field mark visible in flight. Females are generally duller, with green upperparts, whitish underparts, and also display the white outer tail feathers, though l...
Primarily inhabits humid evergreen and semi-deciduous forests, forest edges, and shaded coffee plantations, typically found at elevations between 600 and 1800 meters.
Feeds primarily on nectar from a variety of flowering plants, including epiphytes, shrubs, and small trees, supplemented by small insects and spiders caught in flight or gleaned from foliage.
Mexican Woodnymphs are diurnal, spending their days actively foraging and defending territories, and likely roost solitarily at night. They employ a 'trap-lining' foraging strategy, visiting a regular circuit of flowering plants for nectar, and also engage in hover-gleaning for small insects and ...
The Mexican Woodnymph is entirely endemic to the Pacific slope and foothills of Western Mexico, primarily inhabiting the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima, and Michoacán. Its distribution is quite restricted, extending from central Nayarit south through coastal Jalisco and Colima, into western M...
Near Threatened
- The rufous underwing patch of the Mexican Woodnymph is a unique and distinctive field mark, rarely seen so prominently in other hummingbirds within its range. - Its scientific name, 'ridgwayi,' honors Robert Ridgway, a prominent American ornithologist who made significant contributions to bird ...