Bearded Mountaineer (Oreonympha nobilis)

Identification & Behavior: ~16 cm (6.2 in). The Bearded Mountaineer is brown-green above and white below. The head in the male is black with iridescent blue stripes on the crown and a green narrow gorget that projects down to a “beard”. The female is similar but lacks the iridescent head ornaments of the male.  Both sexes have a deeply forked tail with conspicuous white outer edges. The bill is black and straight. The white underparts and white in the tail in the Bearded Mountaineer may recall an Andean Hillstar but is distinguished by being much longer and having a slender and a straight bill.

Status: Endemic. The Bearded Mountaineer is uncommon in dry scrub habitat in inter-Andean valleys where it ranges at elevations between 2700-3900 m.

Name in Spanish: Montañés Barbudo.

Sub-species: Bearded Mountaineer (Oreonympha nobilis albolimbata), Berlioz, 1938. Andes of CW Peru (Huancavelica and S basin of R Apurímac).
(Oreonympha nobilis nobilis), Gould, 1869. Andes of SC Peru (Apurímac and Urubamba Valleys, in Cuzco).

Meaning of Name: Oreonympha:  Gr. oros, oreos=  mountain and numphē= nymph. nobilis:  L. nobilis=  admirable, famous, renowned, noble, high-born, nobleman.

See more of the Family Trochilidae