Wire-crested Thorntail Discosura popelairii Scientific name definitions

Males of this species are stunning with their long, wire-like crests and exceedingly long, forked tails. Both sexes display a white rump band and while the female is similar to the female Black-bellied Thorntail (Discosura langsdorffi), her middle underparts are all black, not black and green. The Wire-crested Thorntail inhabits humid forests where it is most often seen hovering like a bee high in the canopy or perching conspicuously along the canopy’s edge.

Male c. 11·4 cm (including long tail), female 7·5–8·2 cm; c. 2·5 g. Male has short straight black bill; crown glittering green with long narrow hair-like crest, rest of upperparts coppery green with white band across rump ; gorget iridescent green, underparts black, sides brownish with white patch on flanks; tail long , forked, steely blue, outer rectrices narrow, shafts of all rectrices white . Female upperparts similar but no crest ; underparts black with white malar streak and patch on flanks ; tail short , slightly forked, bluish-black, tipped white . Juvenile resembles adult female. Non-adult males might be confused with Lophornis chalybeus and D. langsdorfii, although the present species typically occurs above the elevational range of either, at least in Peru (1 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Females of the present species separable from same-sex D. langsdorfii by: extensive deep-black underparts contrasting sharply with large, broad-based white moustachial; uniform green upperparts, abutting white rump band, which is clearly bordered below by black; and shorter, less bifurcated tail (2 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin Brit Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ).

Foothills in E Colombia (W Meta), E Ecuador and E Peru (S to Puno). Recorded also in adjacent Bolivia (3 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ).

Humid forest and edges at 500–1500 m (1 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ); sole record from Bolivia was at 400 m (2 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin Brit Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ). Usually forages in canopy.

Feeds on nectar of flowering Inga trees; also takes arthropods.

A quiet, somewhat liquid “tew” has been noted (1 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ).

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Currently treated as Near Threatened. Generally rare, e.g. in Peru (1 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ), with just one (recent) record in Bolivia, although some observations of D. langsdorfii from the same region might prove to have been misidentified individuals of the present species (2 Tobias, J.A. and Seddon, N. (2007). Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin Brit Orn. Club 127(1): 49–84. Close ). Does not seem partial to man-made habitats, although regularly visits artificial feeders in some areas; habitat within range under severe threat of destruction. In NE Ecuador, regularly recorded between Tena and Coca.