HUMMINGBIRDS OF CENTRAL AMERICA

Long-Billed Starthroat

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Heliomaster Longirostris

Males have a bronze-green upperparts, a blue crown, white moustachial stripe, and reddish or dark metallic purple throat.

They have a mostly black square tail, tipped with white. Their underparts are of gray shading to white on the flanks and mid-belly.

Females look similar to the males, but have a green crown and a purple-edged dusky gray throat.

BILL: black, straight and very long measuring about 1.4 inches.

SIZE: average length is 4 inches.

WEIGHT:  weighs around 6.8 grams.

COLOR: bronze-green, green, blue, white, iridescence, dark metallic purple, gray, purple and black.

Inhabits forest, and is usually seen in woodland clearings, but will sometimes visit gardens.

NECTAR from a variety of brightly colored, scented small flowers of trees, herbs, shrubs, and epiphytes.

INSECTS small spiders and insects.

NEST: broad, cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers woven together and green moss on the outside for camouflage in a protected location in a shrub, bush or tree.

EGGS: 2 white eggs.

INCUBATION: 18 to 19 days, female only.

FLEDGLING PHASE: 25 - 26 days.

Southern Mexico to Panama, from Colombia south and east to Bolivia and Brazil, and on Trinidad. In Suriname only known from Sipaliwini savanna.

The Long-billed Starthroat is also commonly referred to as the Long-Billed Hummingbird.

REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/

                         https://www.beautyofbirds.com/

                         http://www.planetofbirds.com/