Slender Sheartail

About the Slender Sheartail

The slender sheartail (Doricha enicura) is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. The slender sheartail shares genus Doricha with the Mexican sheartail (D. eliza). It is monotypic.

The male slender sheartail is 11 to 12.5 cm (4.3 to 4.9 in) long and weighs about 2.3 g (0.081 oz). Females are 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) long and weigh about 2.6 g (0.092 oz). Both sexes have a long, decurved, black bill and a white spot behind the eye. The male's head, upperparts, and sides of the belly are green. Its gorget is pinkish purple and the chest and center of the belly white. The very long tail is deeply forked. The central pair of feathers are green and the others blackish. The female's upperparts are green and the underparts cinnamon-buff. It has a blackish stripe through the eye. Its tail is much shorter and less forked than the male's; its central pair of feathers are green and the others cinnamon with a wide black band near the tip and white tips.

The slender sheartail is found in mountains and... Wikipedia →