Esmeralda Piquirroja
Red-billed Emerald
Chlorostilbon gibsoni
Song
Red-billed Emerald
Appearance: The Red-billed Emerald is a small hummingbird with a bright reddish bill, usually with a dark tip. The male is mostly glittering green, with metallic green underparts and a dark bluish or greenish tail. The female is duller, green above and paler below, often whitish to grayish on the underparts, with less metallic shine than the male. The red bill is one of the most useful field marks.
Habitat: This species prefers dry to semi-arid open habitats, including desert scrub, dry woodland, thorn scrub, dry forest edge, farms, parks, gardens, and other semi-open areas. It is not mainly a humid forest hummingbird. In Colombia it is usually found at low elevations, mostly below 500 m, but it can occur much higher locally, up to about 2,300 m in the upper Magdalena Valley.
Behavior: It feeds mainly on nectar and often uses a trap-lining strategy, visiting a regular circuit of small flowers, shrubs, trees, and garden plants. It often feeds fairly low, close to the ground, and may use small flowers that are less attractive to larger hummingbirds. Like other hummingbirds, it is also assumed to take small insects for protein.
Breeding: Its breeding season is not completely defined. Breeding activity has been recorded at least in November. This means the species may breed at different times depending on local rainfall, flowering periods, and regional conditions. The nest is a tiny cup typical of hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds are solitary in all aspects of life other than breeding, and the male's only involvement in the reproductive process is the actual mating with the female. Males court females by flying in a U-shaped pattern in front of them, and one male may mate with several females.
Conservation Status: The Red-billed Emerald is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
MALE
FEMALE
Distribution
Magdalena River Valley: The nominate subspecies Chlorostilbon (gibsoni) gibsoni occurs in the central Magdalena Valley.
Northern Colombia: The subspecies Chlorostilbon (gibsoni) chrysogaster occurs across northern Colombia, from around Córdoba eastward toward Norte de Santander.
Guajira Peninsula: The subspecies Chlorostilbon (gibsoni) nitens occurs in La Guajira.
Taxonomy
The Red-billed Esmerlda (Chlorostilbon gibsoni)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves (Birds)
- Order: Caprimulgiformes
- Family: Trochilidae
- Genus: Chlorostilbon
- Species: gibsoni
Vocalization
Song: The song is described as a continuous series of wiry trilled notes rendered as "wirrr…wirrr…wirrr…" — a repetitive, buzzy trill typical of small emerald hummingbirds. This is most commonly given by males and likely serves a territorial or advertising function.
Contact Calls: The species also produces a high-pitched, penetrating "tseeee" call. This sharp, piercing note is characteristic of hummingbirds and is typically used as a contact call or as an alert when disturbed or when other individuals approach a feeding territory.
Aggression Call: A reedy "tzreee" call has also been documented. This type of rasping, buzzy note is commonly associated with aggressive interactions around flowers or feeding sites in hummingbirds.
