Short-tailed Woodstar (Myrmia micrura)

Identification & Behavior: ~6 cm (2.3 in). The male Short-tailed Woodstar is greenish above and mostly dingy white below with brown flanks. It has a purple gorget bordered above by a white mustache. The female is greenish above. The underparts show buffy sides with a pale center of the belly. The underparts’ color pattern seems to be variable. The tail is very short, dusky in the male and dusky with white tips in the female. The bill is nearly straight and black. When perched, the tips of the folded wings reach the tip of the tail. It is similar to the Purple-collared Woodstar but is distinguished by a smaller size, the white mustache, and by having the folded wing reaching the tip of the bird’s tail when perched. Also, see the Peruvian Sheartail.

Status: The Short-tailed Woodstar is uncommon at the edges of semi-deciduous forest and scrub in northwest Peru. It is known to range at elevations of up to 1200 m along the foothill of the northwestern Andes. It also occurs in Ec.

Name in Spanish: Estrellita de Cola Corta.

Sub-species: Short-tailed Woodstar (Myrmia micrura), Gould, 1854.

Meaning of Name: Myrmia:  Gr. Muron, muia, muias= charming, graceful, sweet. micrura: Gr. Mikros= small, short and ouros, oura= tailed, tail.

See more of the Family Trochilidae