Ruby-topaz Hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus)

Identification & Behavior: ~9 cm (3.5 in). The male Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird is unmistakable. He has an iridescent ruby-red forehead, crown, and nape. The throat and breast are iridescent golden that can turn iridescent green. The tail is chestnut with a dark terminal band. The rest of the body is dark brown. The female has coppery-green upperparts and whitish underparts. Her tail is rufous with a broad black terminal band tipped with white. The tail is similar to that of a female Black-throated Mango. Both sexes have a straight relatively short bill.

Status: The Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird favors semi-open habitats such as mixed savannas, scrub, forest edges, and agricultural and urban habitats where it forages from the canopy of trees to near the ground. This hummingbird has been added to the list of Peru birds in 2019 based on a male nd female photographed in La Piedras, Madre de Dios. It also occurs in Co, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Colibrí Rubí-topacio.

Sub-species: Ruby Topaz Hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitos), Linnaeus, 1758. It is a monotypic species.

Meaning of Name: Chrysolampis: Gr. khrusolampis= Firefly, mosquitus= mosquito.

See more of the Family Trochilidae