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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 123, No. 1, March 2011 
A 
Fanned-tail 
FIG. 3. Flight displays performed by male Royal Sunangel (Heliangelus regalis ) at ridgetop shrubland in the 
Nangantza Valley of southeast Ecuador. 3A has two males in successive flights (illustration by Juan F. Freile); 3B has a 
single displaying male (illustration by Galo Buitron-Jurado). 
Fitzpatrick et al. (1979) and Seddon et al. 
(1996) reported perching to be a more common 
foraging method than hovering, in contrast to our 
observations. We suggest these discrepancies 
indicate local or seasonal differences in feeding 
strategies, considering that Seddon et al. (1996) 
performed more prolonged observations (45 
observations of males, 44 of females). 
Observations were limited to 6 hrs in stunted 
shrubland and ‘paramo’, but we suspect H. regalis 
followed regular feeding routes in fairly regular 
time periods within a fixed territory. Two events 
ol territorial defense were observed which, in 
accordance to previous observations (Fitzpatrick 
et al. 1979, Seddon et al. 1996), suggest 
territoriality (Feinsinger and Colwell 1978). Other 
Heliangelus species are also reported to be 
territorial (Ortiz-Crespo 2003). 
Vocalizations are generally similar to those 
previously described (Schulenberg et al. 2007), 
but displaying notes were uttered in fast chattered 
series, contrary to the high teep note described by 
Schulenberg et al. (2007). The dispute calls we 
report are similar to a series of tick notes 
described by Fitzpatrick et al. (1979) in male- 
male chases. To our ears, they appear harsher, 
more metallic, and more chattered than those 
described by Fitzpatrick et al. (1979). 
Displays differed from those observed at the 
type locality (Fitzpatrick et al. 1979) as we did not 
observe birds repeating the circular flight towards 
the opposite side of perches in a figure-8 pattern. 
More detailed observations are needed to eluci¬ 
date if display flights differ locally. 
H. regalis is apparently fairly numerous in 
stunted ridgetop shrubland and paramo-like hab¬ 
itats at Las Orqufdeas sandstone ridges. At least 
live different birds were found (one female, four 
males) in a small sampled area at the ridgetop 
(~ 0.02 km 2 ; i.e., 500-m linear transect with a 40- 
m width band), suggesting a healthy population. 
These observations provide a rough estimate of 
250 individuals/km 2 in the stunted ridgetop 
shrubland habitat that H. regalis seemingly 
preferred during our study. An estimate of the 
area covered by this forest type (Fig. 1) resulted 
in 10.11 knr of the habitat where H. regalis was 
most abundant in the Nangaritza Valley. This 
