Green-fronted Lancebill (Doryfera ludovicae)

Identification & Behavior: ~11.5 cm (4.5 in).  The Green-fronted Lancebill is blue-green above and greenish or grayish-green below. Only the male has a green round iridescent forehead or frontlet. The tail is dusky blue tipped with gray. It has a distinctive straight bill. When the bird is relaxed it puffs the forehead and chin giving the characteristic look of a straight bill coming out of a round head. The male is similar to the smaller female Blue-fronted Lancebill but is distinguished by size, by having a green frontlet and coppery on the hind neck. These two lancebills are likely to overlap only in the range of the Blue-fronted Lancebill.

Status: The Green-fronted Lancebill is uncommon on the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1000 – 2500 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Pico-Lanza de Frente Verde.

Sub-species: Green-fronted Lancebill (Doryfera ludovicae ludovicae),  Bourcier and Mulsant 1847.

Meaning of Name: Doryfera: Gr. duru= spear and phoros= charging, which has. ludoviciae: In honor of Louise Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire née Blacque-Belair (1810-1855) wife of French zoologist Prof. Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (Late L. Ludovicia Louise).

See more of the Family Trochilidae