Zafiro Gorgiblanco
White-chinned Sapphire
Chlorestes cyanus
Song
White-chinned Sapphire
Appearance: The White-chinned Sapphire is a small hummingbird, about 9 cm long. The male has glittering green upperparts, a violet-blue to bluish head and throat, a small white chin patch, a coral-red bill with a dark tip, and a dark steel-blue tail. The female is duller, mostly green above and grayish to whitish below, with a blue-toned tail but without the bright violet-blue throat.
Habitat: It lives mainly in humid lowland forest, forest edges, light woodland, clearings with trees, gallery forest, shrubland, and sometimes degraded former forest or wooded human-modified areas. In Colombia it is mostly a lowland species, generally below about 1,000 m.
Behavior: It feeds mostly on nectar from flowering trees, shrubs, and epiphytes, and also eats small insects and spiders. It may forage from low vegetation up into the canopy and is usually seen around forest edges, flowering trees, or light woodland rather than deep open country.
Breeding: Breeding information is limited. Like other hummingbirds, the female builds the nest, incubates the eggs, and raises the young alone. The nest is a small cup, and the usual clutch is expected to be two white eggs, typical of hummingbirds.
Conservation Status: The White-chinned Sapphire is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
MALE
FEMALE
Distribution
Northeastern Colombia: especially near the border region with Venezuela.
Eastern Colombia: It is present in the Orinoquía and Amazonian lowlands in humid lowland forest, gallery forest, forest edges, light woodland, and clearings with scattered trees.
Taxonomy
The White-chinned Sapphire(Chlorestes cyanus)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves (Birds)
- Order: Caprimulgiformes
- Family: Trochilidae
- Genus: Chlorestes
- Species: cyanus
Vocalization
Call Notes: Short, sharp “tsip,” “tseet,” or “chip” notes, usually given while moving between flowers, perching, or interacting with other hummingbirds.
Feeding Calls: Tiny high chips may be heard around flowering trees, shrubs, forest edges, and gallery forest.
Territorial Calls: During disputes around nectar sources, it may give rapid, squeaky chips or ticking notes.
Flight Sound: Like other hummingbirds, the wings make a soft humming sound in flight, but this is a mechanical wing sound, not a true vocal call.
