Bronze-tailed Thornbill Chalcostigma heteropogon Scientific name definitions

These large but very short-billed hummingbirds live at high elevations in stunted woodlands or in shrubby areas of montane forests and the páramo. Both males and females have rufous-copper rumps and long tails. Males boast a long green stripe on the throat which turns pink at the chest. Bronze-tailed Thornbills are aggressive hummingbirds and both defend flower patches and visit scattered flowers. They tend to forage individually and cling onto flowers when gathering nectar, or hover with slow wing beats. During certain times of the year, they also feed extensively on insects. When perched, they usually rest in shrubs or beneath rocky outcrops.

13–14 cm; 5·9–6·3 g. Male has short, straight, black bill; upperparts and underparts bottle-green; rump and uppertail-coverts coppery red; throat patch narrow and emerald-green, with pink, violet-tipped elongation (“beard”); forked tail olive-green. Female similar, but throat pale with darker markings and lacks “beard”; outer tail feathers with paler tips. Juvenile similar to female, but with mahogany red crown.

Extreme W Venezuela (Páramo de Tamá, in S Táchira) and E Andes of Colombia (S to Cundinamarca).

Feeds on nectar from flowers of Bartisia santolinaefolia, Rubus gachetensis, Brachyotum, Castilleja fissifolia, Hesperomeles and ericaceous shrubs (Pernettya, Gaultheria). Gleans tiny insects from Espeletia flowers or from the twigs and leaves of shrubs, while perched below or clinging to the substrate, or in hover-flight. Hawks for flying insects 1–3 m above the ground. After snapping up the prey, the bird tosses it into the air and flies at it with bill open, or tilts its head with open bill backwards to enable the prey to be taken into the rear of the gape. Defends feeding territories.

Poorly known. Calls include a dull short “tzk” repeated at intervals.