BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD CAPTURED IN WEB OF THE SPIDER NEPHILA CLAVIPES IN MEXICO

Abstract

On 9 October 2011 at approximately 14:00 hours, we observed a female Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) caught in the web of a Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes), 2 km from the Media Luna wellspring (21° 52′ 55″ N; 100° 02′ 27″ W, elevation 1005 m) in a protected natural area in the Sierra Madre Oriental of San Luis Potosí in central-eastern Mexico. The web was in a willow tree (Salix sp.) within secondary successional forest surrounded by farmland. The event was discovered opportunistically over five days of observing birds at the site.