Black-bellied Thorntail

About the Black-bellied Thorntail

The black-bellied thorntail (Discosura langsdorffi) is a species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The black-bellied thorntail was briefly placed in genus Gouldomyia that was then merged into Popelairia. Since the late 1900s that genus has been merged into the present Discosura. Some authors have further merged Discosura into Lophornis but this treatment has not been widely accepted.

Two subspecies are recognized, the nominate D. l. langsdorffi (Temminck, 1821) and D. l. melanosternon (Gould, 1868). The black-bellied thorntail weighs about 3.2 g (0.11 oz). Males are 12 to 13.7 cm (4.7 to 5.4 in) long and females 7.4 to 7.6 cm (2.9 to 3.0 in). Adults of both sexes of the nominate subspecies have an iridescent emerald green crown and coppery green upperparts with a white band across the rump. The male's gorget is iridescent emerald green with a golden coppery band below it. Its flanks are bronzy green and the rest of the underparts black. The tail inner feathers of the tail are steely blue and the outer three pairs gray; all... Wikipedia →