Bronze-tailed Thornbill
Chalcostigma heteropogon
Medium-sized hummingbird with a rather large tail. Males and females are dingy greenish-olive overall. On both sexes, look for a bronzy rump and tail and a short, straight bill. Males have a long iridescent throat patch that is mostly green, but ends in a pink point. Females have a grayish throat. Typically seen singly in shrubby stunted forest at the edge of páramo. Restricted to the Andes of north-central Colombia.
Identification
The bronze-tailed thornbill is 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 5.9 to 6.3 g (0.21 to 0.22 oz). Both sexes have a short straight black bill. Adults are generally bottle green overall, with coppery red uppertail coverts and a forked olive green tail. Adult males have a narrow gorget that is emerald green under the chin and transitions to pink at the bottom. Adult females are similar but the gorget is paler green and does not have the pink "beard"; in addition their outer tail feathers have pale tips. Juveniles resemble adult females with the addition of a mahogany red crown.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of genus Chalcostigma is unsettled. The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society is considering a proposal to merge the genus into Oxypogon. The bronze-tailed thornbill is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Chalcostigma heteropogon
- Authority
- (Boissonneau, 1840)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Chalcostigma
Range and habitat
The bronze-tailed thornbill is found from the Tamá Massif of extreme western Venezuela through the Eastern Andes of Colombia as far south as Cundinamarca Department. It inhabits steep rocky slopes within semi-arid to humid páramo grasslands and also the edges of Polylepis and other stunted woodland. In elevation it ranges between 3,000 and 3,900 m (9,800 and 12,800 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The bronze-tailed thornbill is thought to be sedentary, but it possibly makes seasonal elevational movements.<p>The bronze-tailed thornbill feeds on nectar from a variety of flowers and shrubs. It forages by clinging to flowers or hovering, and not on the ground like some others of its genus. Both sexes are aggessive and defend patches of flowers. The species also gleans insects from vegetation and sallies to catch them on the wing.<p>The bronze-tailed thornbill's breeding season is thought to span from September to January but may extend further at either end. As is typical of hummingbirds, the female alone incubates the two white eggs. Nothing else has been documented about its breeding phenology.<p>The bronze-tailed thornbill makes "a dull short 'tzk'" call; other vocalizations if any are not known.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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