- Discosura popelairii
Popelairia popelairii
Identification
Male 11·4 cm (4½ in); includes long tail. Female 7·5–8·2 cm (3-3¼ in)
Male
- Glittering green crown with long crest
- Long blue tail feathers, with white shafts
- Green upperparts
- Broad white band across lower back
Distribution
South America: found from eastern Colombia to eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru and adjacent Bolivia.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Discosura vs. Popelairia
Sibley & Monroe (1996) place Wire-crested Thorntail (popelairii), Black-bellied Thorntail (langsdorffi), and Coppery Thorntail (letitiae) in the genus Popelairia. However, Howard & Moore (2003) and Clements (2008) place these three taxa in Discosura, and Opus follows.
Photo © by Stanley Jones
Cock of the Rock Lodge, Challabamba, Parque Nacional del Manu, Cusco Department, Peru, September 2018
Habitat
They are to be found in humid forests and forest edges
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of nectar from flowers from inga trees; they also catch insects on the wing.
They will readily visit garden feeders.
Breeding
The only nest which has been seen was placed at the end of a branch at a height of about 8m.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Adult male
Photo © by kitefarrago
Wild Sumaco, Napo, Ecuador, July 2016
Male
Photo © by Jose Ramon
Manu National Park, Peru, October 2010
Adult male
Photo © by Peter R. Bono
along Manu Road, Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge, (approx. 1400m), Peru, August 2008
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Mar 2018 and February 2019)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Wire-crested Thorntail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Wire-crested_Thorntail
