HUMMINGBIRD SPECIES

Green Thorntail

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Discosura conversii

The Green Thorntail is a small hummingbird with short straight bill. It is a forest canopy species.

It has mainly green upperparts, a white rump band and a blackish lower rump and tail. It weighs just 3 grams.

The 10 3.9-inch long male has the long wire-like tail that gives this species its name and green underparts.

The 3-inch long female lacks the long tail and has blackish underparts with a green breast band. She has conspicuous white moustaches.

It is usually silent, but may give a quiet "chip".

Feeds on nectar from small flowers including those of epiphytes and shrubs, and also take tiny flies and wasps.

Found in forested habitats and gardens. It may visit feeders.

Resident breeder from Costa Rica to western Ecuador. It occurs at middle elevations from 700 – 1,400 meters but may descend lower early in the wet season.

In Costa Rica and Panama, it is confined to the Caribbean slopes.

Nest is undescribed, but a published image shows a female constructing a nest on a thin branch, so it is presumably similar to other cup nests built by species such as the Green-breasted Mango.

All hummingbirds lay 2 white eggs incubated by the female alone.

SOURCE:
https://en.wikipedia.org