- 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. (2024) Violet-throated Metaltail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Violet-throated_Metaltail