Koepcke’s Hermit (Phaethornis koepckeae)

Identification & Behavior: ~14.5 cm (6 in). The Koepcke’s Hermit is mainly dull brownish green above with a scaled rump with dusky and rufous. It has a poorly defined dusky mask through the eye, bordered below with a whitish-buff stripe. The stripe above the mask is short and inconspicuous. The underparts are pale tawny. The bill is very long and decurved, with a red lower mandible. The tail is dusky with tawny tips on each feather, except for the central pair, which is longer and tipped white. It is similar to the Tawny-bellied Hermit but is distinguished by being smaller, by the poorly defined dusky mask, the near absence of a stripe above the dusky mask, and by ranging at lower elevations.

Status: Endemic. The Koepcke’s Hermit is uncommon but patchily distributed along the foothill of the eastern Andes at elevations ranging between 500 – 1300 m.

Name in Spanish: Ermitaño de Koepcke.

Sub-species: Koepcke’s Hermit (Phaethornis koepckeae), Weske and Terborgh 1977.

Meaning of Name: Phaethornis: Gr. Phao= sun sunshine, and Ornis= bird. Koepckeae: In honor of Maria Emilia Ana Koepcke née von Mikulicz-Radecki (1924-1971) German ornithologist in Peru 1949-1971, explorer and collector.

See more of the Family Trochilidae