Black-breasted Hillstar (Oreotrochilus melanogaster)

Identification & Behavior: ~12.5 cm (5 in).  The male Black-breasted Hillstar is greenish above and black below. It has a broad iridescent green gorget. The bill is relatively short, black and slightly decurved. The tail is dark.  The female is greenish above and grayish below with dusky specks on the throat. The tail in the female is mostly dusky with broad white tips. Some birds show a golden forehead and throat due to pollen impregnation. The female is similar to the female Andean Hillstar but is distinguished by having white only on the tip of the tail feathers, not on the base of the feathers. The Black-breasted Hillstar and the Andean Hillstar may overlap at the north and south edges of the Black-breasted Hillstar’s range.

Status: Endemic. The Black-breasted Hillstar is fairly common in the central west slope of the Andes where it ranges at elevations of 3500-4800 m.

Name in Spanish: Estrella de Pecho Negro.

Sub-species: Black-breasted Hillstar (Oreotrochilus melanogaster), Gould, 1847.

Meaning of Name: Oreotrochilus: Gr.oros, oreos=  mountain and  Trochilus= genus Trochilus. melanogaster: Gr. melas, melanos= black and gastēr, gastros= belly.

See more of the Family Trochilidae