The white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) also goes by the name of the Jacobin hummingbird, great Jacobin, and Colibri Jacobin – is a species of a hummingbird or apodiform bird that is native to Mexico, Costa Rica, South Brazil, and Bolivia.
It is a large and attractive species of bird that belong to the family of Trochilidae. They are effective pollinators of Hamelia patens found in Panama. They forage at different heights, though they usually prefer the upper layers of vegetation.
When they fly, they spread their tails like a fan and mostly hovers searching for flying insects. Some other birds of hummingbird species like the rufous hummingbird also have a distinctive coloration that makes them stand out among others though most of these birds are accompanied by a whitetail.
If you find facts about rare animals interesting, we suggest you consider checking out other such animals. For more relatable content, check out these facts and photos of Jacobin cuckoo and Andaman wood pigeon.
White-necked Jacobin Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a white-necked Jacobin?
The white-necked Jacobin is a typically large and attractive hummingbird that belongs to the family of Trochilidae.
What class of animal does a white-necked Jacobin belong to?
These birds belong to the class Aves under the genus Florisuga.
How many white-necked Jacobins are there in the world?
Estimates show that there are about 5,000,000-50,000,000 individuals present across the world. It is safe to believe that their population trend is stable and their population range is high because they are not facing any existential threats right now.
Where does a white-necked Jacobin live?
The white-necked Jacobin habitat extends from southern Mexico through Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Las Guyanas, Peru to Bolivia and Brazil. Within Colombia, they are also seen in the Pacific and Caribbean regions, eastern plains, inter-Andean valleys, and the Amazon.
What is a white-necked Jacobin's habitat?
The white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) prefers to live in forests with a dense population of trees. They usually inhabit the humid edges and humid forests wherever there is a high layer of vegetation. It is also an inhabitant of secondary growth forests and cocoa and coffee crops.
Who do white-necked Jacobins live with?
The Jacobin hummingbird is solitary in nature and prefers to live by itself. However, sometimes, they are seen in flocks with other hummingbird species as well, while visiting trees and feeding sites.
How long does a white-necked Jacobin live?
There is, unfortunately, no data available on the average life span of a Jacobin hummingbird.
How do they reproduce?
The white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) is a solitary bird and neither do they live or fly in flocks. This hummingbird species do not mate or bond for life.
The only participation of a male white-necked Jacobin in the whole reproduction process is the mating process. They mate with several other partners and the male white-necked Jacobin leaves right after the copulation completes.
The female birds also copulate with multiple male partners in their lifetime, they are responsible for building a whole cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers, cobwebs, and green moss. The female uses cobwebs to provide elasticity to their nests so that they can expand as the chick expands while growing.
The female birds alone protect and feeds their children and take care of them while the incubation period, while the male birds take no interest in the process. They lay a maximum of two eggs during their breeding cycle.
After 12 days, the mother leaves their chicks and it takes the chick another 7-10 days to gain complete maturity and leave the nest.
What is their conservation status?
The IUCN Red List has declared this hummingbird species as the Least Concern because according to their research and study there is no immediate threat to their population and there is no risk of them getting Extinct.
White-necked Jacobin Fun Facts
What do white-necked Jacobins look like?
A male Florisuga mellivora, white-necked Jacobin, has green feathers all over its upper parts with a blue head and a chest. It can easily be identified by its white belly and tail. It even has a white band on the back of its neck and a distinctive blue hood.
The belly and tail of an immature male chick are far less white and have a reddish-brown patch around his eyes.
The female birds have a great resemblance with immature males. They also have green upper parts with a white abdomen. They also have a white-scaled throat that is either green or blue. The white-scaled blue feathers under the tail give them a distinctive look. The color of their vents is not usually shared by other birds of this species.
How cute are they?
The white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) is considered to be very adorable and cute mostly because of its beautiful and vibrant color.
How do they communicate?
The song of a white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) includes distinctive screeching noises. As they usually live in solitary, they do not need to communicate much, and their communication or interaction mainly involves conflicts.
How big is a white-necked Jacobin?
The white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) has a total body length of 4.7 in (12 cm), so if we compare them with a bee hummingbird which is 2-2 in (5-6 cm) long, or a calliope hummingbird which is 3-4 in (7-10 cm) long, we will find that the Colibri Jacobin is, in fact, larger than most of the hummingbird species.
How fast can a white-necked Jacobin fly?
On average, the approximate speed of a Florisuga mellivora, white-necked Jacobin, is recorded as 18.6 mph (30 kph).
How much does a white-necked Jacobin weigh?
Unfortunately not much is known about the average weight of this species. Another species of hummingbird, the rufous hummingbird weighs 0.09-0.14 oz (2.8-4 g).
What are the male and female names of the species?
A male and a female Jacobin don't have separate names allotted to them based on their sex.
What would you call a baby white-necked Jacobin?
The little green baby of the great Jacobin is referred to as a chick or a juvenile.
What do they eat?
The diet of this species includes nectar from different flowers and flying insects.
Are they dangerous?
No, these birds are not dangerous at all. They are surely very aggressive in nature, but there is no open record that shows them causing problems or hurting humans.
Would they make a good pet?
No, as these species mainly feed on nectars from different flowers and are effective pollinators of Hamelia patens found in Panama, it is best to leave them in the forest where it feels comfortable.
Did you know...
In Spanish, Colibrí Jacobin is also called Colibrí de Nuca Blanca.
In Portuguese, they are called beija-flor-branco and, in German, they are called Jakobiner Kolibri.
How many species of Jacobins are there?
There are two species of Jacobin found, the white-necked Jacobin and black Jacobin.
Naming the white-necked Jacobin
The distinctive white band on the back of their necks earned them the name white-necked Jacobin.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these old German owl pigeon facts, or Nicobar pigeon facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable white-necked Jacobin coloring pages.
Second image by Dominic Sherony.