Heliomaster longirostris
The Long-billed Starthroat (Heliomaster longirostris) is a strikingly elegant hummingbird, typically measuring 11-13 cm in length and weighing between 4.5 and 6.5 grams, renowned for its exceptionally long, straight bill. Males display a brilliant iridescent violet-red gorget that shifts to purplish-blue, complemented by a distinct white post-ocular stripe and white-edged flanks that contrast sharply with its metallic bronze-green upperparts. Females, while sharing the white facial stripe and...
This adaptable hummingbird favors semi-open and forested environments, including forest edges, clearings, secondary growth, coffee plantations, and residential gardens. It typically occurs at elevations from sea level up to 2,000 meters, occasionally reaching higher in certain regions.
Its diet primarily consists of nectar, extracted from a wide variety of deep-throated flowers using its specialized long bill, supplemented with small arthropods like insects and spiders caught by gleaning or aerial hawking.
Long-billed Starthroats are diurnal and primarily solitary, fiercely defending their preferred flower patches against competitors, including other hummingbirds and larger insects, often with aggressive aerial pursuits. Males engage in dramatic courtship dive displays to attract females, and the s...
The Long-billed Starthroat maintains a wide and largely resident distribution across the Neotropics, extending from central and southern Mexico, throughout Central America, and deep into much of South America. Its extensive range encompasses countries such as Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragu...
Least Concern
- The Long-billed Starthroat's bill can be almost as long as its head and body combined, making it one of the most proportionally long-billed hummingbirds in the world. - It is a master of "trap-lining," following a predictable circuit of flowering plants and revisiting them repeatedly as their n...