HUMMINGBIRD SPECIES

Purple-crowned Fairy

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Heliothryx barroti

The Purple-crowned Fairy is a large hummingbird, measuring about 4.5 inches long and weighs about 6.5 grams.

It is slender and has bright white underparts, a green back, and a long pointed tail which has black central and white outer feathers. There is a dark patch through the eye, and the bill is sharply pointed.

Males have a purple crown and a purple spot at the end of the eyepatch, which is bordered below with a glittering green malar stripe.

Females lack the purple and glittering green colors on the head.

Immature birds have rufous fringes to its upperpart plumage and a dusky throat.

SONG: A vigorous repetition of the high thin "tsit" call.

Eats insects, picked off the foliage or caught in flight, and takes nectar from flowers, piercing the bases of larger blooms such as Heliconia.

Breeding habitat is forest canopy and edges at altitudes of up to 1,675 meters. It can also be found in tall second growth and shady gardens.

Southeastern Mexico south to southwestern Ecuador.

Nest is a small conical cup-shaped structure, made with plant down and sited near the tip of a thin branch.

The female lays 2 white eggs.

SOURCE:
https://en.wikipedia.org