Alternative name: Gilded Sapphire
- Hylocharis chrysura
Identification
8-10cm.
Male:
- Iridescent golden green
- Medium-sized straight bill, red with black tip
- Very small white postocular spot
- Pale rufous chin
- Rectrices glittering golden bronze
Female:
- Similar, but duller
- Greyish lower belly
Distribution
South America: found from Bolivia to Paraguay, Uruguay, south-eastern Brazil and northern Argentina
Taxonomy
Usually regarded as monotypic.
Described subspecies platensis from South Brazil not accepted by most authorities and size and colour differences regarded as clinal.
Habitat
Found in gardens, plantations, forest edge and savannas, usually between 200 m and 1000 m, sometimes higher.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on nectar of different plants. Takes also small insects and collects spiders from their web.
Breeding
Breeding season from September to February in Brazil. The small nest is cup-shaped and placed exposed on a thin horizontal branch, 4 to 6 m above the ground, occasionally higher. Two eggs are laid.
Movements
Migratory in parts of its range, but the migration pattern is poorly understood.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Schuchmann, K.L., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Gilded Hummingbird (Hylocharis chrysura), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.gilhum1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Gilded Hummingbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Gilded_Hummingbird
