Tyrian Metaltail
Metallura tyrianthina
Small hummingbird with short, straight bill. Common in forests and edges in the temperate zone of the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Generally dark green above and brownish below with a bright green throat. Females are buffier below than males. Look for the dark metallic-maroon tail (blue on birds in Santa Marta Mountains of Colombia). Visits feeders.
Identification
The Tyrian metaltail is 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) long and weighs 2.7 to 5.1 g (0.10 to 0.18 oz). Both sexes of all subspecies have a short, straight, black bill. The male of the nominate subspecies has bottle green upperparts and gray underparts with pale fringes on the feathers. It has an emerald green throat and a slightly forked glistening bronze tail. The female is also bottle green above. Its throat and upper breast are ochre-orange with olive green spots and the lower breast and belly are whitish with green spots. Its outer tail feathers have whitish tips.<p>The plumage of the Tyrian metaltail's other subspecies differ from those of the nominate in some significant ways. M. t. districta has a violet tail and the female's underparts are not spotted. Both sexes of M. t. chloropogon have a coppery red tail; the male is otherwise almost completely black and the female has only a few spots on the throat and upper breast. M. t. oreopola's tail is golden red. The male's upperpart feathers have coppery bars near the ends and its underparts are green with pale fringes to the feathers. The female's throat and upper breast have few spots. M. t. quitensis has a longer bill than the nominate and a bronze-olive tail. M. t. septentrionalis's tail is purple-blue with green inclusions and the male's underparts are white with bronze-olive spots. M. t. smaragdinicollis has a violet tail like districta but the female's throat and upper breast are heavily spotted like those of the nominate.
Taxonomy
The Tyrian metaltail has these seven subspecies:<p>In the early twentieth century some authors treated M. t. chloropogon and M. t. smaragdinicollis as full species but that treatment has not been widely accepted.
- Scientific name
- Metallura tyrianthina
- Authority
- (Loddiges, 1832)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Metallura
Range and habitat
The subspecies of Tyrian metaltail are found thus:<p>The Tyrian metaltail inhabits the interior of several humid open landscapes including secondary forest, cloudforest, mossy treeline scrub, and elfin forest. It also occurs at the edges or in brushy parts of páramo. In elevation it ranges from 1,500 to 4,200 m (4,900 to 13,800 ft) but in most areas is most common between 2,500 to 3,300 m (8,200 to 10,800 ft) and in the Venezuelan coastal mountains at about 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
Migration pattern: Vertical migration.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Medium-sized foliage-gleaner with a strong head pattern. Uniformly warm rufous apart from a black cap and pale check patch framed by two black lines. Found in humid lowland forests where it usually accompanies mixed-species flocks and forages at all levels. The song is a loud descending trill; also gives metallic “priew” notes.
Yellow-rumped Serin
Crithagra xanthopygia
A very plain gray-brown seedeater with a white throat and a yellow rump that is conspicuous in flight. Found locally in savanna, woodland, and cultivated areas, usually in small flocks. Similar to Reichenow’s Seedeater, but has a weaker facial pattern and usually less streaking below. Separated from White-rumped Seedeater by the yellow rump and the whiter throat. Also similar to Yellow-throated and Salvadori’s Serins, but separated by the white rather than yellow throat. The song is a constant stream of musical whistles and trills.
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Small cuckooshrike with a restricted range, found only on Yap, which is part of the larger Caroline Islands group in the Federated States of Micronesia. Males are mainly gray with black on the face, wing, and tail. Females brown on the back and rich buff below, with fine scaling. Seemingly only found in good forest. One frequent vocalization is an upslurred whistle. Distinctive within its small range.
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