SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 
633 
F[G 1. Ventral view of the abdominal cavity of Phne thorn is malaris (left - anterior). ® .. . ox j mat e, 
imagci has been lifted up out of the way to reveal left (top and center), andi right ( ottom es e.. • ter 
based on measurements of testis diameter taken in the field with digital calipers to the un e 
nearly indistinguishable in shape, color, firmness, 
a nd internal consistency and appearance. 
The triorchid Great-billed Hermit was netted in 
mature forest interior habitat, at 374 m asl, 06 
38.660' S, 76 04.955' W ± 10 m. It lacked a 
hursa of Fabricius, and the skull was estimated to 
he 30% ossified, an exceptionally high ossifica¬ 
tion for a hummingbird and a strong indication 
that the bird was reproductively mature. The 
voucher specimen and frozen tissue are archived 
at MSB (Tissue catalog number NK162363. 
voucher number EBQ247) with a duplicate tissue 
sample archived at CORB1DI. The bird was 
physiologically normal based on comparison to 
male conspecifics for six criteria: (1) body mass, 
5.9 g‘, (2) hemoglobin concentration, 17.1 g/dl, 
typical of Phaethomis hummingbirds at similarly 
low elevation; (3) hematocrit. 53.7%; (4) red 
blood cell concentration. 5.48 million per pi; (5) 
mean erythrocyte volume (MCV). 98.1 fl; and (6) 
a blood smear that yielded no detectable blood 
parasites from >10,000 Giemsa-stained red blood 
cells scanned at 600X magnification. 
DISCUSSION 
This represents the first reported case of 
triorchidism for a hummingbird (Trochiltdae) 
and for the entire clade Neoaves, which includes 
