Black-bellied Thorntail (Discosura langsdorffi)

Identification & Behavior: ~12 cm (5 in) (male), 7 cm (3 in). (female). The male and female Black-bellied Thorntail are dark green above with a white band across the rump. The male has an iridescent green forehead and gorget, and black belly.  The tail in the male is long, deeply forked with wire-like tips. The female has a whitish throat and breast with dusky specks, black belly, and white vent area. The tail in the female is dark with white tips.  The female is similar to the female Wire-crested Thorntail but is distinguished by having a whitish throat and breast with dusky specks,  and dark and forked tail with white tips.

Status: The Black-bellied Thorntail is uncommon to rare in the canopy of lowland Amazonian forests. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Cola-Cerda de Vientre Negro.

Sub-species: Black-bellied Thorntail (Discosura langsdorffi melanosternon), Gould, 1868.

Meaning of Name: Discosura: Gr. diskos= drive, plate; and oura= tail. langsdorffi: In honor of naturalist specimens collector and consul of Prussia in Brazil during the period (1813-1830), Georg Heinrich Freiherr von Langsdorff- (1744-1852).

See more of the Family Trochilidae