Antillean Mango (Anthracothorax dominicus aurulentus) 28 January 2012. Boqueron, Cabo Rojo Municipality, Puerto Rico
This is a female. Adult males are black below with a green gorget. Most hummingbirds in the Lesser Antilles where bird-eating hawks are not resident, are sexually monomorphic. I.e. the females resemble males. However, many of the hummingbird species on larger islands and on the mainland have a strong sexual dimorphism with females much plainer looking. It has been suggested that selective pressure for predator avoidance around the nest accounts for this phenomenon. The Antillean Mango is found only on Hispaniola and Puerto Rico where it is most common on the western side of the island. It formerly occurred in the Virgin Islands, but it has declined and is very rare there now. Declines there and in eastern Puerto Rico have been attributed to competition with Green-throated Carib whose range appears to be expanding there. The race of Antillean Mango on Puerto Rico is A. d. aurulentus. The nominate race on Hispaniola is larger with the males slightly duller. The females have chestnut bases to the tail unlike the gray-brown seen in Puerto Rico. Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LZ5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter) |