Cynanthus lawrencei
The Tres Marias Hummingbird (Cynanthus lawrencei) is a captivating, medium-sized hummingbird renowned for its strict endemism to Mexico's Tres Marías Islands. This species is frequently recognized as a full species distinct from its mainland relative, the Broad-billed Hummingbird, showcasing unique island evolution. Males are strikingly beautiful, displaying a brilliant iridescent green body, a shimmering metallic blue-violet throat and chest, and a diagnostic broad, bright red bill tipped wi...
This hummingbird exclusively inhabits the tropical deciduous forests, dry shrublands, and semi-open forest edges of the Tres Marías Islands, typically found at low to moderate elevations.
Primarily a nectivore, feeding on a wide variety of flowering plants; also supplements its diet with small insects caught in flight or gleaned from foliage for protein.
Active from dawn to dusk, Tres Marias Hummingbirds spend their days flitting between flowering plants, often perching conspicuously to survey their territory or preen. They are aggressive foragers, employing both hovering for nectar extraction and aerial hawking to catch small insects on the wing...
The Tres Marias Hummingbird is strictly endemic to the Tres Marías Islands, an archipelago located approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the coast of Nayarit, Mexico. Its entire breeding and year-round distribution is confined to these islands, specifically María Madre, María Magdalena, and...
Least Concern
- This species is an island endemic, found only on Mexico's Tres Marías Islands, highlighting the unique evolutionary pathways of insular populations. - The male's brilliant metallic blue-violet throat is not pigmented but a structural color, created by the microscopic arrangement of feather barb...