Mexican Sheartail

The Mexican sheartail, scientifically known as Doricha eliza, is a diminutive hummingbird species, with a weight ranging from a mere 2.4 to 2.6 grams. Exhibiting sexual dimorphism, the males are slightly larger than the females, with a length including the tail of 9 to 10 centimeters, while females measure approximately 8.5 to 9 centimeters. The species is adorned with a long, curved, and black bill, a dull green crown, and bronzy-green upperparts.

Identification Tips

Males can be identified by their white postocular stripe and a striking pink-purple throat, which is bordered below by a white band. Their underparts are a duller green, with clearer tones on the median belly, and their long, deeply forked tails are typically held closed. The inner tail feathers are green, transitioning to black with cinnamon inner margins. Females, on the other hand, have a whitish face with a blackish stripe behind the eye and a whitish throat, chest, and belly with cinnamon tinges on the sides. Their shorter forked tails feature reddish outer feathers with a subterminal black band and white tips. Immature birds resemble females in appearance.

Habitat

The Mexican sheartail is endemic to Mexico, favoring subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry shrublands, mangroves, and even adapting to rural gardens and urban areas. A notable habitat is the Petenes mangroves ecoregion on the Yucatán Peninsula.

Distribution

This species is found exclusively in Mexico, with two separate populations: one in central Veracruz and another along the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Behaviour

The Mexican sheartail is primarily nectarivorous, visiting flowers such as Ipomoea, Justicia, and Helicteres guazumaefolia to feed. It also supplements its diet with small arthropods. Breeding occurs from May in Veracruz and between August and April in Yucatán. The species constructs tiny cup-shaped nests from lichens, spider webs, and seeds from daisy family plants, laying two eggs. Fledglings have been observed in Yucatán during February and March.

Conservation Status

With a fragmented range and a small population size—fewer than 2,500 individuals in Veracruz and between 6,000 and 10,000 along the Yucatán coastal strip—the Mexican sheartail faces habitat degradation due to agricultural expansion, residential development, and tourism-related activities. The IUCN has classified the species as "Near Threatened," indicating a population in decline.