Zafiro Gorgiazul
Blue-throated Goldentail
Chlorestes eliciae
Song
Blue-throated Goldentail
Appearance: The Blue-throated Goldentail is a small hummingbird with a straight, bright red bill tipped black. The male is mostly shining green, with a blue to blue-violet throat and a bronzy-golden or coppery tail. The female is duller, green above and paler below, with less blue on the throat. The red bill and golden-toned tail help identify it.
Habitat: It lives mainly in humid to semi-humid lowland forest, forest edges, second growth, plantations, gallery forest, gardens, and degraded former forest. It prefers lowlands and valleys.
Behavior: It feeds mostly on nectar from flowers such as Hamelia, Heliconia, Inga, Psidium, and other shrubs, trees, and epiphytes. It also eats small arthropods. Males are known to sing in leks, where several males display and sing in the same general area to attract females.
Breeding: It is suspected to breed mainly during the dry season, roughly December to July in parts of its range. The female builds a small cup-shaped nest of plant material and spiderweb, often on small branches at forest edges, secondary growth, or gardens, and usually lays two eggs.
Conservation Status: The Blue-throated Goldentail is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
MALE
FEMALE
Distribution
Northern Chocó: The blue-throated Goldentail, is present in the Darién and Chocó biogeographic region.
Taxonomy
The Blue-throated Goldentail (Chlorestes eliciae)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves (Birds)
- Order: Caprimulgiformes
- Family: Trochilidae
- Genus: Chlorestes
- Species: eliciae
Vocalization
Aggressive Call: During disputes or chases, it may give a sharp, liquid, descending twitter.
Lek Sounds: Males sing repeatedly from display areas, pausing between phrases and then repeating.
Wing Sound: Its wings make the usual humming or whirring sound in flight, but this is a mechanical sound, not a true vocal call.
