Peruvian Sheartail (Thaumastura cora)

Identification & Behavior: ~13.5 cm (5.3 in). The male Peruvian Sheartail has green upperparts. The underparts are mostly white with greenish sides of the breast and belly and a pink-purple gorget.  The tail is very long in the adult male. The female has green upperparts and whitish or buff-and-white underparts. Both sexes have a relatively short, black, and nearly straight bill. The tail is relatively short, roundish with white spots to the tips except for the shorter and dark central pair of feathers.  It favors coastal scrub and edges of coastal woodlands. The adult male is unmistakable. The female and juveniles are similar to a female and juvenile Purple-collared Woodstar but are distinguished by a slightly smaller size, a shorter and nearly straight bill, and shorter pair of central tail feathers in the female. Also, see the Chilean Woodstar and Short-tailed Woodstar.

Status: The Peruvian Sheartail is common in a wide elevational range between nearly sea level to 2800 m on the west slope of the Andes. Bird undergo seasonal migrations. It also occurs Ec and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Colibrí de Cora.

Sub-species: Peruvian Sheartail (Thaumastura cora), Lesson and Garnot, 1827.

Meaning of Name: Thaumastura: Gr. Thaumastos= marvellous, wonderful and oura=  tail. cora: Cora, an Inca priestess of the sun in Jean Marmontel’s novel “Les Incas, ou la destruction de l’Empire du Pérou”, 1777.

See more of the Family Trochilidae