Amazilia Hummingbird (Amazilis amazilia)

Identification & Behavior: ~9.5 cm (3.7 in). The Amazilia Hummingbird has a green back that grades into a rufous rump. Some forms have a greenish terminal tail band. The throat is iridescent green with rufous rest of the underparts. Some forms have a large white area on the breast. The bill is red with a dusky tip. It is similar to the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird but is distinguished by having a rufous belly.

Status: The Amazilia Hummingbird is common in coastal scrub and the edges of gallery forest west of the Andes at elevations ranging between sea level to 2400 m. It also occurs in Ec.

Name in Spanish: Colibrí de Vientre Rufo.

Sub-species: Amazilis Hummingbird (Amazilis amazilia dumerilii), (Lesson), 1832. Lowlands W of Andes from W Ecuador to NW Peru (Tumbes); E slope in SE Ecuador (upper Zamora Valley).
(A. a. leucophoea), Reichenbach, 1854. NW Peru (Piura S to Ancash).
(A. a. amazilia), Lesson, 1827. W Peru (Lima to Ica).
(A. a. caeruleigularis), Carriker, 1933. SW Peru (Nazca Valley).

Meaning of Name: Amazilis: Amazilia, an Inca heroine in Jean Marmontel’s novel (1777) “Les Incas, ou la destruction de l’Empire du Pérou”.

Note: Formerly known as Amazilia amazilia (2019).

See more of the Family Trochilidae