Fiery-tailed Awlbill
Avocettula recurvirostris
A small, uncommon hummingbird with a peculiar bill. Male appears mostly dark green, whereas female is green above and white below with a black line down center of breast. Bill is short, straight, and upturned at the tip. Found locally in drier habitats including savanna, forest edge, and dry zones on large granite outcrops, where it is most frequently seen around flowering trees or perched on bare branches. Feeds on nectar and hawks for insects either in hovering flight or from perches. Best told from other hummingbirds by distinctive bill; in plumage both male and female resemble respective sexes of Black-throated Mango, but awlbill is much smaller with.
Identification
The fiery-tailed awlbill is 8 to 10 cm (3.1 to 3.9 in) long and weighs about 4.3 g (0.15 oz). Its unique bill is short with a dramatically upturned tip. The adult male has green upperparts. Its throat is shiny emerald green and the belly shiny emerald green with a black center. The top of the tail is violet but for all-green central feathers. The adult female also has green upperparts. Its underparts are white with a black stripe down the middle. Its tail is bluish black and the outer feathers have white tips. Juveniles are similar to the adult female but the underside of the tail is coppery red.
Taxonomy
The fiery-tailed awlbill is the only member of genus Avocettula and has no subspecies. The genus had earlier been merged into Anthracothorax.
- Scientific name
- Avocettula recurvirostris
- Authority
- (Swainson, 1822)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Avocettula
Range and habitat
The fiery-tailed awlbill is found in Amazonia, from southeastern Venezuela east through the Guianas into northern Brazil and south into Brazil as far west as Acre and as far east as Maranhão and Tocantins. There is also a disjunct population along the Napo River in eastern Ecuador. The species has been recorded as a vagrant in Colombia.<p>The fiery-tailed awlbill primarily inhabits open savanna-like areas in primary forest where it favors vegetation near granite outcrops. It can also be found at the edges of low vegetation near rivers, semi-deciduous forest, and cerrado.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The fiery-tailed awlbill is believed to be sedentary.<p>The fiery-tailed awlbill is a "trap-line" feeder, visiting a circuit of flowering plants to collect nectar. It favors Clusia and Dioclea shrubs, and feeds both by inserting its bill into flowers and by piercing the base of flowers to "rob" nectar.It also catches arthropods on the wing and by gleaning from the underside of leaves.<p>The fiery-tailed awlbill's breeding season varies across its range. It is known to span from September to December in Suriname and there are records from July in northern Brazil and French Guiana. The female builds a small cup nest of soft plant materials and spider silk on a horizontal branch, usually between 5 and 12 m (16 and 39 ft) above the ground. The female alone incubates the clutch of two eggs.<p>The fiery-tailed awlbill's song has not been recorded. Its call is "a series of 'tsik' notes" and is given in flight or while hovering.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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