Green Inca
Coeligena conradii
Flashy green and white hummingbird of Andean cloud forest. It is nearly endemic to Venezuela, but also reaches into Colombia near the border. Rather large and long-billed with a bold, white breast patch. White tail markings really stand out when it flares its tail. Male’s upper throat is green, and female’s is pale buff. Often seen feeding on red, tubular flowers and sometimes visits feeders. Formerly considered a subspecies of Collared Inca.
Identification
The green inca is about 14.5 cm (5.7 in) long; one female specimen weighed 6.7 g (0.24 oz). Adult males are mostly grass green, with a wide white collar across the upper breast. Their outer tail feathers are mostly white with green tips and their wings are brownish. Females are also mostly grass green above but with a smaller white collar and a rusty throat with green spots. The rest of their underparts are grayish with green mottling and spots.
Taxonomy
The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) recognize the green inca as a species. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society treats it as a subspecies of the collared inca (C. torquata) but is seeking a proposal to recognize it as a species.
- Scientific name
- Coeligena conradii
- Authority
- (Bourcier, 1847)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Coeligena
Range and habitat
The green inca is found in the Andes of northwestern Venezuela between the states of Trujillo and Táchira and in northern Colombia's Norte de Santander Department. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid montane cloudforest. In elevation it mostly ranges between 1,800 and 3,000 m (5,900 and 9,800 ft) but can be found as low as 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Yellow-striped Brushfinch
Atlapetes citrinellus
Chunky greenish brushfinch of the understory of semi-humid montane forest in NW Argentina. Distinctive in range. Travels in pairs or small groups, often with mixed species flocks. Told from other Brushfinches by its all green body. Song a very high series of quick metallic warbles.
Manchurian Reed Warbler
Acrocephalus tangorum
Small, shy, and poorly understood, this reed warbler breeds in the remote marshlands of northeastern China and Russia and winters in drier, grassier habitats in Southeast Asia. Warm brown overall with a clean-cut whitish brow and throat; brow extends well behind the eye, unlike in Blunt-winged Warbler. Very similar to extralimital Paddyfield Warbler, but Paddyfield shows dark-tipped lower mandible, duller brown tones overall, and a dirtier brow stripe with a distinctive pinch just before the eye, after which it fades out; Manchurian’s brow broadens behind the eye instead. Oriental Reed Warbler much larger, with a weaker head pattern. Rambling jumbled song consists of high-pitched warbling notes and sharp clicks and rattles; more pleasant-sounding than that of Oriental Reed Warbler.
Radjah Shelduck
Radjah radjah
Large black and white duck with obvious pale eye, pale bill, and chunky pale-colored legs. Note narrow dark breast-band. Typically found on and around wetlands, rivers and sewage ponds, including mangroves.
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