Collecting history of the hummingbird genera Chaetocercus Gray, 1855 and Lophornis Lesson, 1829

We examined the Chaetocercus and Lophornis holdings of 21 European, US and South American avian collections. Only skin specimens with exact (to the year) collecting dates and reliable locality data on their labels, which could be checked personally, were analysed. We located 466 Chaetocercus and 373 Lophornis specimens collected between the years 1859 and 1999. The vast majority of these records are old ones, dated between 1880 and 1960: 93% of the Chaetocercus and 82% of the Lophornis study skins. Less than 1% of all specimens was obtained after 1990. Potential explanations for our findings, such as declining population levels of these hummingbird genera, historically changing collecting activities regarding commercial dealers and collecting techniques, and legal collecting restrictions are discussed. Our findings reflect a general trend of decreasing collecting activities worldwide.Communicated by F. Bairlein