Andean Emerald

Male
Photo © by Pitter
Dapa, Valle Del Cauca, Colombia, September 2017

Uranomitra franciae

Amazilia franciae
Agyrtria franciae

Identification

9–11 cm (3½-4¼ in)
Female green upperparts, bronze-coppery uppertail and tail, whitish underside with some green on flanks.
Male similar but according to subspecies with varying amounts of blue on forehead, crown, or even sides of head.

Distribution

Subspecies cyanocllis
Photo © by Roy Halpin
Andean East Slope, November 2004

South America: found in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Taxonomy

This is a polytypic species^[1] consisting of 3 subspecies.

Andean Emerald is sometimes placed in genus Agyrtria.

Subspecies

• U. f. franciae:

• Subtropical Andes of north-western and central Colombia

• U. f. viridiceps:

• Tropical south-western Colombia and western Ecuador

• U. f. cyanocollis:

• Eastern slope of Andes of northern Peru

Habitat

Photo © by cfagyal
Tandayapa, Ecuador, September 2004

Cloud Forest, known to be between 1700 and 2100 m, gardens and agricultural land

Behaviour

Diet

Their main diet consists of nectar, foraged from varying heights. The visit flowers along a "trapline", i.e., with regular visits to each flower. More rarely in trees with many flowers, where often aggressive.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. BF Member observations
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Sept 2017)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Andean Emerald. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Andean_Emerald

External Links

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