Scissor-tailed hummingbird

Scissor-tailed hummingbird
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Tribe:	Lampornithini
Genus:	Hylonympha Gould, 1873
Species:	H. macrocerca
Binomial name
Hylonympha macrocerca Gould, 1873

The scissor-tailed hummingbird (Hylonympha macrocerca) is a bird species in the family Trochilidae, the only member of the genus Hylonympha.

Distribution[]

This species can be found only in Venezuela.^[1] It was formerly (2004) classified as a Vulnerable species by the IUCN. But new research has shown it to be rarer than it was believed. Consequently, it is uplisted to Endangered status in 2008.^[1]

Habitat[]

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical lower and upper moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss, at an elevation of 800–1,200 metres (2,600–3,900 ft) above sea level.^[1]

Description[]

Hylonympha macrocerca can reach a length of about 19 centimetres (7.5 in), with a 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long tail. Males of these hummingbirds show an amazing blackish-purple forked long tail, a metallic dark green plumage with a shining violet cap, an emerald breast and a blackish-green hind crown. In the females the tail is shorter than in males. They are dark green, with a chestnut belly and a white centre of breast. Bill is black, long and slightly decurved.^[1][2]

Biology[]

These hummingbirds in primary forests mainly feed on nectar of Bromeliaceae flowers and on small insects, whereas in secondary forests they feed at Heliconia aurea and Costus species.^[1][2]

Distribution map

References[]

• del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International.

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