Glittering-throated Emerald
Chionomesa fimbriata
Fairly common small hummingbird. Metallic green overall with a white spot behind the eyes, an orangish lower mandible, a pale vent, and a bluish-black tail with a greenish base. Both sexes are similar. Subspecies differ in the amount of blue on the throat. Found in a variety of open and semiopen habitats, but avoids forest interiors, savannas, and urban areas.
Identification
The glittering-throated emerald is 8 to 12 cm (3.1 to 4.7 in) long and weighs 3.5 to 6.2 g (0.12 to 0.22 oz). Both sexes have a straight bill with a blackish maxilla and a pinkish mandible with a dark tip; its length varies among the subspecies. Adult males of the nominate subspecies C. f. fimbriata have golden- to bronze-green upperparts and a dark bronze-green to blackish bronze tail. Their throat and most of their breast are glittering golden-green. The center of their lower breast and their belly are white and their undertail coverts white with brownish centers. Adult females are similar to the male with the addition of white bars near the end of their throat feathers and greenish-gray tips on their outermost tail feathers. Juveniles resemble the adult female but with a more grayish-brown breast.<p>Subspecies C. f. elegantissima has coppery to purplish uppertail coverts. C. f. apicalis and C. f. fluviatilis have significantly longer bills than the nominate. C. f. fluviatilis also has a turquoise to bluish sheen on its throat, a characteristic shared with C. f. laeta. Subspecies C. f. nigricauda and C. f. tephrocephala have completely white undertail coverts and greenish-black to bluish black tails. C. f. tephrocephala is slightly heavier than the nominate and also significantly larger in all dimensions.
Taxonomy
The glittering-throated emerald was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other hummingbirds in the genus Trochilus and coined the binomial name Trochilus fimbriatus. Gmelin based his description on "L'Oiseau-mouche à gorge tachetée de Cayenne" that had been described and illustrated by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760, and by the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1779.<p>This species was formerly placed in the genus Amazilia. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Amazilia was polyphyletic. In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the glittering-throated emerald and the sapphire-spangled emerald (Chionomesa lactea) were moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus Chionomesa that had been introduced in 1921 by the French naturalist Eugène Simon. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retains it in Amazilia.<p>The genus name Chionomesa combines the Ancient Greek khiōn meaning "snow" with mesos meaning "middle". The specific epithet fimbriata is from the Latin fimbriatus meaning "fringed".<p>Seven subspecies of glittering-throated emerald are recognized:<p>Subspecies C. f. apicalis, C. f. fluviatilis, C. f. nigricauda, and C. f. tephrocephala have at times been treated as individual species.
- Scientific name
- Chionomesa fimbriata
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Chionomesa
Range and habitat
The subspecies of glittering-throated emerald are found thus:<p>The glittering-throated emerald inhabits a wide variety of semi-open to open landscapes, shunning the interior of dense forest. It is found in less dense dry and humid forest, gallery forest, secondary forest, open woodland, savanna, scrublands, caatinga, plantations, and gardens. C. f. tephrocephala is also found in mangroves.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Papuan Parrotfinch
Erythrura papuana
A rather attractive small finch, mostly pale green with a red tail and a dull bluish-purple face. Found in evergreen forest and forest edge from 1200 to 2600 meters of elevation, rarely lower. Blue-faced Parrotfinch is similar but slightly smaller, with a slighter bill and more vivid coloration. The two do not often, if ever, overlap. Papuan’s common call is a thin, weak high-pitched “tsit tsit.”
Eungella Honeyeater
Bolemoreus hindwoodi
Medium-sized honeyeater recorded at higher elevations in the ranges behind Mackay in central Queensland. Gray overall; underparts slightly paler, with fine streaks on chest difficult to see. Dark cheeks split by a thin white gape mark that wraps back under and behind the bluish eye; also has a faint, narrow neck plume. Call is a series of sharp, frantic-sounding whistles.
Yellow-green Grosbeak
Caryothraustes canadensis
A well-named grosbeak that is olive-greenish above and brighter yellow below, with a distinctive black face and a stout bill with a silver base. Disjunct range stretches from eastern Panama to southeast Brazil. Occurs in the subcanopy of lowland forest, up to around 1,000 m. Typically found in small groups, sometimes as a part of a larger mixed-species flock. Often draws attention to itself with piercing buzzy and squeaky calls. Not likely confused, but compare with female Red-and-black Grosbeak, which has entirely black head.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.