Birdfinding.info ⇒ Common and widespread on St. Lucia and Dominica; locally common on Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Saba, and St. Vincent; uncommon on Antigua, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Grenada.
Purple-throated Carib
Eulampis jugularis
Endemic to the Lesser Antilles from Saba to Grenada, where it is mainly a resident of humid montane forests and plantations. Also occurs locally and seasonally at lower elevations, in gardens and other semiopen habitats.
Sometimes wanders to other small islands outside of its usual range, including Barbados, Barbuda, St. Barthélemy, St. Martin, the Grenadines, and the Virgin Islands. Some such incursions may yield small populations and potential range expansions (e.g., recently on St. Martin).
Identification
A medium-to-large, mostly dark hummingbird with a decurved bill. When illuminated, its wings gleam bright green, its rump, vent, and tail gleam blue-green, and its throat and chest glow with varying shades of maroon, purple, or red.
Purple-throated Carib, male. (Dauphin, St. Lucia; March 17, 2019.) © Marc Regnier
Males and females differ in size and most noticeably in the sizes and shapes of their bills. Males are larger overall and have a shorter, slightly curved bill; whereas the smaller female has a longer, strongly curved bill.
Purple-throated Carib, female. (Bel Event, St. Pierre, Martinique; January 31, 2011.) © Philippe Boissel
Purple-throated Carib, male. (Valombreuse Botanic Gardens, Guadeloupe; February 17, 2014.) © Stephen Gast
Purple-throated Carib, female. (Calibishie, Dominica; March 17, 2014.) © Alan Van Norman
Purple-throated Carib, female. (Bel Event, St. Pierre, Martinique; January 31, 2011.) © Philippe Boissel
Purple-throated Carib, male. (Deshaies, Guadeloupe; December 30, 2001.) © Alain B. Fossé
Purple-throated Carib, female. (Bel Event, St. Pierre, Martinique; January 31, 2011.) © Philippe Boissel
Purple-throated Carib, male showing the remarkable glow of its throat. (Nevis Botanical Gardens, Nevis; March 12, 2018.) © Steven Mlodinow
Purple-throated Carib, male. (Marigot Bay, St. Lucia; May 10, 2009.) © Hans Holbrook
Purple-throated Carib, female showing the strong curvature of her bill. (Bel Event, St. Pierre, Martinique; January 31, 2011.) © Philippe Boissel
Purple-throated Carib, male. (Fond Doux Plantation, Soufrière, St. Lucia; November 14, 2018.) © Jordan Hinson
Purple-throated Carib, female showing her long, strongly curved bill. (Dublanc, Dominica; July 23, 2016.) © Seanna R.
Purple-throated Carib, female. (Morne Diablotin National Park, Dominica; March 3, 2018.) © Brian Sullivan
Purple-throated Carib, male. (Dauphin, St. Lucia; March 17, 2019.) © Marc Regnier
Purple-throated Carib, male perched on razor wire, with throat in full glow. (Hotel Squash, Martinique; November 15, 2014.) © Charles Gates
Purple-throated Carib, showing maximally purple throat. (Syndicate Falls Trail, Dominica; January 28, 2015.) © David Fraser
Purple-throated Carib, male showing a ruby-red glow on its throat and chest. (Deshaies, Guadeloupe; December 30, 2001.) © Alain B. Fossé
Purple-throated Carib, female showing long, sharply bent bill. (Bel Event, St. Pierre, Martinique; January 31, 2011.) © Philippe Boissel
Purple-throated Carib, male. (Syndicate, Dominica; December 21, 2016.) © Thomas Brooks
Purple-throated Carib, female with bill wide-open. (Bel Event, St. Pierre, Martinique; January 31, 2011.) © Philippe Boissel
Cf. Green-throated Carib. From Saba to Grenada, the two caribs regularly occur together. They are of similar size and shape, so can easily be confused under poor lighting conditions. In decent lighting, their coloration appears entirely different.
Notes
Monotypic species.
References
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)
Fogden, M., M. Taylor, and S.L. Williamson. 2014. Hummingbirds: A Life-size Guide to Every Species. HarperCollins, New York.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Schuchmann, K.L., P. Boesman, and G.M. Kirwan, G.M. 2019. Purple-throated Carib (Eulampis jugularis). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/55411. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)
Wauer, R.H. 1996. A Birder’s West Indies: An Island-by-Island Tour. University of Texas Press, Austin.