Wedge-tailed Hillstar
Oreotrochilus adela
Beautiful and distinctive hummingbird of Polylepis woodpland and adjacent scrub in the high Andes from the Argentina-Bolivia border to Cochabamba. Fairly rare. Male is the only hummingbird in range with a combination of rufous sides, black breast, and green throat. Female can be distinguished from other species of hillstars by her orange underparts.
Identification
The wedge-tailed hillstar is 11 to 13 cm (4.3 to 5.1 in) long and weighs 7.4 to 8.3 g (0.26 to 0.29 oz). Adults have a medium length slightly decurved black bill. Both sexes' upperparts are gray-brown with a bronzy cast. The adult male has a glittering green gorget and chestnut underparts with a bold black stripe down the center. The tail is graduated and mostly blue-black; all but the central feathers have cinnamon inner webs. The adult female's throat is white with grayish and green spots and the rest of the underparts are pale rufous. The tail is blue-black and the outer three or four pairs of feathers are white at their tips. Juveniles are similar to the adult female.
Taxonomy
The wedge-tailed hillstar is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Oreotrochilus adela
- Authority
- (d'Orbigny, 1838)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Oreotrochilus
Range and habitat
The wedge-tailed hillstar is found from southern La Paz Department in central Bolivia south barely into Jujuy Province in extreme northwestern Argentina. It inhabits semi-arid to seasonally humid areas of the Andes below the puna grasslands. It typically is found among mesophytic shrubs and also often occurs in gullies or basins with stands of Polylepis trees. It will inhabit degraded habitat as long as Dodonaea bushes, taller bushes, and columnar cacti remain. In elevation it ranges from 2,600 to 4,000 metres (8,500 to 13,100 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The wedge-tailed hillstar's movements are not well known, but local movements and dispersal are suspected.<p>The wedge-tailed hillstar feeds on nectar from flowering plants; examples include those of genera Barnadesia, Mutisia, and Puya; various mistletoes; and columnar cacti. It also feeds on insects.<p>The wedge-tailed hillstar's breeding season is not well defined but appears to span from October to perhaps February. Males court by alternately singing and displaying from an open perch and making a deep U-shaped flight. The nest is a large cup glued to a rock face. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding phenology.<p>The male wedge-tailed hillstar's display song is "a medley of intense twittering notes interspersed by a distinct descending cadence".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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