Scissor-tailed hummingbird


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

Distribution

This species can be found only in Venezuela. It was formerly 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.

Habitat

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical lower and upper moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss, at an elevation of above sea level.

Description

Hylonympha macrocerca can reach a length of about, with a 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.

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.