Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Vocal Array

Chip. See Figure 3A. Recorded only for adult males. Heard while bird is perching or in flight. Component parts range in frequency from about 4–8 kHz. Interval between chips is highly variable, ranging from 0.1 to 1.5 s. Shortest intervals, 0.1–0.2 s, occur periodically during the call when a pair of chips are given in rapid succession. These calls are common in E. fulgens.

Aggressive Chatter. See Figure 3B. Complex vocalization. Sounds like series of chip notes run together in rapid succession when bird is alarmed. Common vocalization given during aggressive encounters (26 Stiles, F. G., and A. F. Skutch (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ; P. Ficken, personal communication).

Contact-spacing Note. “Given while perched or flying (especially while foraging). A rolling, rather guttural nrrt or drrk ” (F. G. Stiles, personal communication). This description is based on observations of E. spectabilis; it has not been described for E. fulgens.

Whisper Song. See Figure 3C. This description is based on observations of E. spectabilis; it has not been described for E. fulgens. Heard only during the breeding season. Stiles and Skutch (26 Stiles, F. G., and A. F. Skutch (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ) note that “Males have a soft, low-pitched song of burbling, scratchy notes, given in courtship interactions or while perched on territory.” May also be used by males during aggressive interactions, when perched (F. G. Stiles, personal communication). Song of E. fulgens may be slightly higher in pitch (F. G. Stiles, personal communication).

A possible song of Rivoli's Hummingbird is a loud or high-pitched, "sharp tchik or tcheep" (9 Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA. Close ). Another, more complex, vocalization, perhaps a different type of song, is a short chatter of notes that rise and fall (beginning at ca 1:07 in this recording from El Salvador).

None known, other than the usual "whirring" sound of the wings in flight, audible (as in most hummingbirds) at close range. During a 3-year study in Oaxaca, Mexico, no bird exhibited any sort of display-associated sound other than the rapid cheeping (Aggressive Chatter) described above (50 Lyon, D. L. (1976). A montane hummingbird territorial system in Oaxaca, Mexico. Wilson Bulletin 88:280-299. Close ).