Blue-throated Sapphire

About the Blue-throated Sapphire

The blue-throated goldentail (Chlorestes eliciae), also known as the blue-throated sapphire, is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest.

The male blue-throated goldentail is a little bit larger than the female and display similar patterns but brighter colors on its plumage. This species can be distinguished by its straight, bright red bill with a black tip. The crown and upperparts of the male blue-throated goldentail are green, and more coppery or golden on the rectrices. The throat is glittering blue-violet to violet, the belly is cream-brown buff, and the sides of the breast and the flanks are streaked with green. The female's throat is rather violet blue, mixed with gray buff, and the belly is paler than the male's. The immature looks like the female adult as it has duller colors. This characteristic more pronounced in the female juvenile.

As most hummingbird species, the blue-throated goldentail is primarily nectarivorous. It feeds on flowers of shrubs (Stachytarpheta, Hamelia) and large herbs (Heliconia, Renealmia, Thalea), on epiphytes, and sometimes on small arthropods. Wikipedia →