Rufous-booted Racket-tail

About the Rufous-booted Racket-tail

The rufous-booted racket-tail (Ocreatus addae) is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. The rufous-booted 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. HBW splits the Peruvian population from O. underwoodii addae as O. underwoodii annae, leaving the former as a Bolivian endemic subspecies. 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. addae, O. annae, and another subspecies to species status.

The specific epithet addae honors Mrs. Adda Wilson. All racket-tails have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Only the male has elongated outer rectrices (tail feathers) that have... Wikipedia →