Fiery-tailed Awlbill Avocettula recurvirostris Scientific name definitions

The Fiery-tailed Awlbill resembles the mangos (Anthracothorax), but has a distinctive sharp upturn at the tip of its bill. The male is overall dark iridescent green with a violet tail. The female, like many of the mangos, has white underparts with a contrasting black central stripe. This species occurs in savanna and forest clearings and edges, particularly around granite outcrops, from eastern Venezuela east to north-central Brazil. An apparently disjunct population occurs in the lowlands of eastern Ecuador. This species "trap-lines" between favored plants, particularly Clusia and Dioclea. Its cup nest is placed on a horizontal branch of a shrub or tree.

8–10 cm; 4·3 g. Male has short bill, strongly upturned at tip , black; back green; throat and breast glittering emerald  , centre of belly black , sides dull green; tail violet above, central feathers green. Female  similar to male, underparts white with central black stripe  , sides copper-green; tail shows more blue-black, and outer feathers tipped white  . Juvenile like adult female with tail coppery red underneath.

SE Venezuela (Bolívar) and the Guianas to N & W Brazil (lower Amazon E to Maranhão and Tocantins, and W to Acre); also E Ecuador (R Napo).

Occurs in open savanna-like vegetation near granite outcrops within primary forest from sea-level to c. 800 m (1 Pacheco, J. F., G. M. Kirwan, A. Aleixo, B. M. Whitney, A. Whittaker, J. Minns, K. J. Zimmer, P. S. M. Fonseca, M. F. Lima, and D. C. Oren (2007). An avifaunal inventory of the CVRD Serra dos Carajás project, Pará, Brazil. Cotinga 27:15–30. Close ), occasionally at edges of low secondary vegetation near rivers; in Tocantins reported from mosiac of semideciduous forests and cerrado (2 Lopes, L.E. and Bras, V.S. (2007). Aves da região de Pedro Afonso, Tocantins, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia. 15(4): 530–537. Close ), as well as cerrado sensu stricto (3 Pinheiro, R.T., Santos Reis, E. and Rodello, D. (2008). Ampliação da área de distribuição do beija‑flor‑de‑bico‑virado Avocettula recurvirostris (Swainson, 1822) para o Cerrado do Estado do Tocantins, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia. 16(2): 181-183. Close ). Most numerous around 100–200 m. Foraging height around 1–3 m.

Collects nectar  at the periphery of flowering Clusia and Dioclea shrubs. Hawks for insects in the air or gleans them from the underside of leaves. Feeds mainly by trap-lining.

Song unknown. Call a series of “tsik” notes, delivered at an irregular pace, when hovering or in direct flight.

Sept–Dec in Surinam, records from Jul for French Guiana and N Brazil. Cup-shaped nest very small, saddled on thick horizontal branch of tall shrub or tree at 5–12 m. Clutch size two eggs; incubation by female; young black with sparse whitish dorsal down. No further information available.

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Currently considered Near Threatened. Widespread but generally considered rare (e.g. just two records in Venezuela) (4 Hilty, S. L. (1999). Three bird species new to Venezuela and notes on the behaviour and distribution of other poorly known species. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 119(4):220–235. Close ); restricted to small areas of suitable habitat, particularly inselbergs. In the Voltzberg area of Surinam density of at least two individuals/km² recorded. Range in S Amazonian Brazil extended substantially recently, including c. 1000 km S, into the cerrado of C Tocantins (3 Pinheiro, R.T., Santos Reis, E. and Rodello, D. (2008). Ampliação da área de distribuição do beija‑flor‑de‑bico‑virado Avocettula recurvirostris (Swainson, 1822) para o Cerrado do Estado do Tocantins, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia. 16(2): 181-183. Close ) and to Alta Floresta, N Mato Grosso  , and W to S Amazonas (at Borba and Pousada Rio Roosevelt) (5 Kirwan, G.M., Calderón, D., Minns, J. and Roesler, I. (2010). Neotropical Notebook: Brazil. Cotinga. 32: 173-174. Close ). Recorded from several conservation units, including (in Brazil) Parque Estadual do Lajeado (Tocantins) (3 Pinheiro, R.T., Santos Reis, E. and Rodello, D. (2008). Ampliação da área de distribuição do beija‑flor‑de‑bico‑virado Avocettula recurvirostris (Swainson, 1822) para o Cerrado do Estado do Tocantins, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia. 16(2): 181-183. Close ) and the mosiac of protected areas within the Serra dos Carajás (Pará) (1 Pacheco, J. F., G. M. Kirwan, A. Aleixo, B. M. Whitney, A. Whittaker, J. Minns, K. J. Zimmer, P. S. M. Fonseca, M. F. Lima, and D. C. Oren (2007). An avifaunal inventory of the CVRD Serra dos Carajás project, Pará, Brazil. Cotinga 27:15–30. Close ).