Honduran Emerald

About the Honduran Emerald

The Honduran emerald (Amazilia luciae) is a vulnerable species of hummingbird in the "emeralds" tribe, Trochilini, of the subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Honduras. The Honduran emerald was formally described in 1868 by the American amateur ornithologist George Newbold Lawrence based on a specimen collected in Honduras. He placed the species in the genus Thaumatias and coined the binomial name Thaumatias luciae. He chose the epithet to honor Lucy Brewer, the daughter of the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer. The Honduran emerald is now placed with four other species in the genus Amazilia that was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson. The genus name comes from the Inca heroine in Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas, ou la destruction de l'Empire du Pérou. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The Honduran emerald is 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) long. Both sexes have a medium length bill, slightly decurved, with a black maxilla and a red mandible with a black tip. Adult males have a dark green crown and upperparts that become bronzy on the lower back and uppertail coverts. Its central tail feathers are dark... Wikipedia →