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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing saw-billed hermits. These birds get their common name from their serrated, saw-like beak. They're some of the only hummingbird species with this trait! Hermits are a family of hummingbirds, and, although saw-bills bear the name "hermit" and are classified in the hermit family, they're set apart for their straight beak and large size. Like hermits, however, these birds lack the iridescent hues seen in many hummingbird species and they're not as blatantly sexually dimorphic.

Sexual dimorphism is the occurrence of different physical traits between a male and female of an animal species. Birds are often good examples of this such as the northern cardinal with his red feathers compared to the female's brown. In saw-billed hermits, the colors between the sexes are almost identical, though the male does sport a hooked tip to his beak and weighs just a bit more than the female. Of course, in comparison to most other hermits, all saw-bills look huge. These are some of the largest hummingbirds reaching half a foot (15cm) long and weighing a little less than a chickadee. 

Like the lemurs of Madagascar, saw-billed hermits are endemic to Brazil– they're only found there. Specifically, these birds live along the forested eastern coast of Brazil spending their time in the forest understory from sea level up to 3,000 feet (900 m) in elevation. Saw-billed hermits need first in which to live, so they're impacted by habitat destruction and their populations are declared as declining. These birds are important pollinators in their homerange with observations suggesting a single bird can pollinate as many as twenty native plant species per year.

Like other hummingbirds, saw-billed hermits drink nectar from flowers. They most frequently visit bromeliads and false birds of paradise. These birds are trap-line feeders meaning they have a long line of flowers they continuously check one after the other, working their way down the line. Saw-billed hermits are aggressive towards any other hummingbirds trying to tamper with their flower line including members of their own species. Like a snake, hummingbirds have a forked tongue; this ends in hair-like structures which curl up and trap nectar inside as the tongue is retracted. Hummingbird tongues are so long they wrap around the birds' skull for storage! As their name implies, saw-billed hermits also use their serrated beak for gleaning insects off of plants.

Not much is currently known about the life history of saw-billed hermits. They likely live at least a few years, though probably less than a decade on average. They spend most of their time alone, but come together to breed for at least part of the year. They don't move around, instead remaining as residents in their range. They produce conical nests which hang from the tips of long leaves. Something that sets the saw-bills apart from their family members is that they don't engage in ritualistic seduction displays in specific locales where they purposefully gather. Other hermit species lek, saw-bills do not.

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