Green-tailed Goldenthroat (Polytmus theresiae)

Identification & Behavior: ~10 cm (4 in).  The male Green-tailed Goldenthroat is all green with the eye framed by a short white stripe above and below. The female is a dull version of the male with gray-greenish underparts with the eye framed by a longer and better defined white stripe above and below. Both sexes have a solid green tail with white edges in the female. The bill is gently decurved, dark with a pale mandible. It is similar to the White-tailed Goldenthroat but is distinguished by having a solid green iridescent tail.

Status: The Green-tailed Goldenthroat is common but very local. It is known to occur only in the open grasslands mixed with shrubs of Pampas del Heath in extreme southeast Peru. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Garganta-de-Oro de Cola Verde.

Sub-species: Green-tailed Goldenthroat (Polytmus theresiae leucorrhous), P. L. Sclater and Salvin, 1867.

Meaning of Name: Polytmus: Gr. Polutimos: very costly, valuable. theresiae: In honor of Teresa Cristina Maria de Bourbon-Sicílias e Bragança (1822-1889), Empress Consort to Pedro II Emperor of Brazil (reigned 1831-1889).

See more of the Family Trochilidae