Peruvian Racket-tail

About the Peruvian Racket-tail

The Peruvian racket-tail (Ocreatus peruanus) is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. The Peruvian racket-tail, as defined by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy, is one of three species in genus Ocreatus. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats the taxon as one of eight subspecies of booted racket-tail (O. underwoodii). The IOC and Clements call underwoodii "white-booted racket-tail" and assign five subspecies to it. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) follows the eight-subspecies model of booted racket-tail but has requested a proposal to elevate O. peruanus and two other subspecies to species status.

All racket-tails have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Only the male has elongated outer rectrices (tail feathers) that have bare shafts with terminal flags. On the Peruvian racket-tail, those feathers are straight and do not cross; the flags are narrow ovals that slightly overlap. Male Peruvian racket-tails are 11 to 15... Wikipedia →