Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl)

Identification & Behavior: ~11 cm (4.3 in). The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is mostly green with a grayish-green belly. The bill is red and grades to dusky towards the tip. The uppertail coverts and tail are rufous. It is similar to the Amazilia Hummingbird but is distinguished by being mostly green without rufous on the belly.

Status: The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is known in Peru from sightings in extreme northwest Peru in Tumbes. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Colibrí de Cola Rufa.

Sub-species: Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl jucunda), Heine, 1863.

Meaning of Name: Amazilia: Amazili, an Inca heroine in Jean Marmontel’s novel (1777) “Les Incas, ou la destruction de l’Empire du Pérou”. tzacatl: Aztec myth. Tzacatl, companion of Cohuatl and a founding warrior chief of the Toltecs (OD per Mark Brown).

See more of the Family Trochilidae