Green-tailed Emerald
Chlorostilbon alice
Small, compact, short-billed and short-tailed hummingbird with green tail. Male all glittering green; female green above and gray below with dark cheek, white eyeline, and white-tipped tail. Occurs in dry to humid forest borders in montane regions (no higher than 2500 m), usually in gardens and cultivated areas. Often perched alone near small flowers at mid-height. Very similar to other emeralds; distinguished from both male and female Blue-tailed Emerald by green tail; from Short-tailed Emerald by having wings and tail the same length when perched; and from male Narrow-tailed Emerald by uniform length tail feathers. Endemic to the Andes and Coastal Cordillera of Venezuela.
Identification
The male green-tailed emerald is 7.5 to 8.5 cm (3.0 to 3.3 in) long and females 6.5 to 7.5 cm (2.6 to 3.0 in). The species weighs between 3 and 4 g (0.11 and 0.14 oz). Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill. The male's forehead and crown are shining dark green, its upperparts bronzy green, its tail glittering bronze-green, and its underparts grass green. The female's upperparts are like the male's. It has a white line behind the eye. Its underparts are pale grayish and the undertail coverts are dark gray. Its central tail feathers are green and the rest have green bases with black near the end and grayish tips. Immature birds resemble the female with buffy fringes on the feathers of the head.
Taxonomy
The green-tailed emerald was originally described as Trochilus alice and later moved to its present genus Chlorostilbon. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy recognize it as a monotypic species. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treats it as a subspecies of the short-tailed emerald, (C. poortmani). At least one author has suggested that it is a subspecies of narrow-tailed emerald (C. stenurus).
- Scientific name
- Chlorostilbon alice
- Authority
- (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1848)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Chlorostilbon
Range and habitat
The green-tailed emerald is endemic to northern Venezuela, from Falcón south to Lara and Sucre and east to Monagas. It inhabits the semi-open edges of a variety of forest types including semi-humid rainforest, cloudforest, secondary forest, plantations, and sometimes dry forest. In elevation it ranges between 700 and 1,800 m (2,300 and 5,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The green-tailed emerald's movements are not well understood. It is not a long-distance migrant but makes irregular movements among locations and elevations.<p>The green-tailed emerald uses a variety of foraging strategies to feed on nectar. It uses trap-lining at low-quality sources and "steals" nectar from richer sources in other hummingbird's territories. Males sometimes defend nectar-rich feeding territories. The species forages fairly low in the vegetation, usually between 1 and 6 m (3 and 20 ft) above the ground, and seeks nectar at a variety of flowering plants and shrubs. In addition to nectar, it also feeds on small insects captured by hawking from a perch.<p>The green-tailed emerald's breeding season spans from January to March. It builds a cup nest of plant fibers, leaf bits, and bark lined with softer material and covered on the outside with leaf pieces and twigs. It typically places it as a saddle on a thin branch about 1 m (3 ft) above the ground. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for about 14 days and fledging occurs 20 to 22 days after hatch.<p>The green-tailed emerald's song has apparently not been recorded or described, and there are few recordings of its call. It makes a "[t]high soft chittering while foraging".
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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