Female
Photo by Stanley Jones
Parque Nacional El Cajas, northwest of Cuenca, Azuay Province, Ecuador, November 2014
Photo by Stanley Jones
Parque Nacional El Cajas, northwest of Cuenca, Azuay Province, Ecuador, November 2014
- Metallura baroni
Identification
10–11 cm
- Dark olive-green upperparts
- Purple-violet throat
- Sky-blue tail with yellowish-green underside
- Straight black bill
Female
- Whitish-grey underparts
- Incomplete throat patch
- Dense olive-green spots
- Whitish tips to underside of outer tail feathers
Distribution
South America: found in páramo of Andes of south-central Ecuador (Azuay)
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Páramo vegetation with some scattered patches of elfin forest. Observed at heights around 3,970 m.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of nectar taken in hover-flight.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BirdLife International
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2023) Violet-throated Metaltail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 November 2023 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Violet-throated_Metaltail
