Elsewhere (in East Asia only in bird parks or botanic gardens)
Habitat
forest
Colour
green, blue, purple
Size
small (under about 20 cm)
IUCN status
Least Concern
IOC breeding range
SA (Venezuela to wc Bolivia)
Identification
Males are 16–19 cm long including the 12 cm outer tail feathers and weigh 5–6 g; females 9.7–11.7 cm and 4.5–4.7 g. A short black bill. Nominate males have a shining emerald crown, metallic bronzy-green upperparts, duller olive-tinged green underparts and a blue or violet throat; the inner tail feathers are very short and the outer very long, the tail iridescent blue, green and violet above and bluish black below. Females have a short, somewhat forked tail and cinnamon underparts.
Habitat
Semi-open tall woodland and forest edge in the Andes, feeding on nectar; resident.
Distribution
The Andes from Venezuela through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to west-central Bolivia. Absent from East Asia; Birdwatching Notebook lists it as an exotic.
Season and behaviour
Resident, seen all year within its range.
Photography tips
These are the FilmAnalysis editors' notes, not content from the sources.
The long tail trails behind the hover like two ribbons, so leave space below and use a portrait frame; 1/3200 s freezes the wings while the tail itself blurs slightly, which is the movement. The iridescence appears only front-lit and head-on. Andean lodge feeders are the realistic place.
Field ethics: keep a distance at which the bird does not change its behaviour; never approach or publish nest sites; no baiting, playback or flash; never clear vegetation around a nest; follow reserve rules and stay on paths.
Photographic styles
A hovering hummingbird trailing a long tail; green and violet iridescence.
Similar species
Violet-tailed sylph (same genus, violet-blue tail, further west).
Related badge
None yet. No validated photo recognition exists for this species, so no badge is tied to it: a name in the encyclopedia is not evidence in a photograph.
The illustration is original FilmAnalysis artwork. The photograph is from Wikimedia Commons; its licence and author are under it.
