Discosura langsdorffi
The Black-bellied Thorntail (Discosura langsdorffi) is a jewel-like hummingbird renowned for its striking sexual dimorphism. Males measure 10-12 cm (4-4.7 in) in length, with an impressive, deeply forked tail accounting for nearly half of its length, and weigh a mere 3-4 grams. They display iridescent green upperparts, a velvety black belly and breast, and a distinctive white spot behind the eye, making their crossed, glossy black tail feathers with a white basal band an unmistakable field ma...
Humid tropical and subtropical lowland and foothill forests, including forest edges and clearings. Typically found at elevations between 200 and 1200 meters (650-3900 feet).
Primarily nectar, especially from small, epiphytic flowers and those found in the understory; supplements its diet with small arthropods hawked in flight.
These active, diurnal hummingbirds are often observed darting rapidly between flowers or perching inconspicuously on a bare twig within the forest understory. Males are highly territorial, vigorously defending prime feeding patches from conspecifics and even larger hummingbirds, often involving a...
The Black-bellied Thorntail is a resident species found across a significant portion of northern South America. Its primary distribution lies within the western and central Amazon basin and along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains. It occurs from southern Colombia through eastern Ecuador a...
Least Concern
- The male Black-bellied Thorntail's tail can be nearly as long as its entire body, a remarkable example of sexual selection. - Despite its ornate tail, this tiny hummingbird weighs only about 3-4 grams, less than two US pennies. - Its name "thorntail" refers to the pointed, stiff-shafted outer t...