Jamaican Mango

About the Jamaican Mango

The Jamaican mango (Anthracothorax mango) is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae. It is endemic to Jamaica. The Jamaican mango was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Trochilus mango. Linnaeus based his description on the "Mango bird" that had been described and illustrated in 1738 by the English naturalist Eleazar Albin. The Jamaican mango is now placed in the genus Anthracothorax that was introduced in 1831 by Friedrich Boie. The species is monotypic: No subspecies are recognized.

There is some evidence that the species is the most basal within the genus Anthracothorax. The Jamaican mango is 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long and weighs 8.5 to 9.1 g (0.30 to 0.32 oz). It differs from all others of its genus by being dark overall rather than mostly bright green. The adult male's crown is dull green, the sides of the head and neck metallic magenta, and the back dull greenish bronze. The central tail feathers are dusky bronze to dull black and the rest metallic violet with a thin dark blue band. The underparts are velvety black. The adult... Wikipedia →