• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Black-tailed Trainbearer - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by bajadreamer
Bird Garden Lodge, Quito, Ecuador, September 2019
Lesbia victoriae

Identification

14·9–26 cm (5¾-10¼ in) - includes long tail of 11.2-18 cm)

  • Black slightly curved bill.

Female has a shorter tail and spotted chest.

Similar Species

Green-tailed Trainbearer has a straighter bill; also look at several species of Sylphs

Distribution

Female
Photo by Ecuadorrebel
Quito, Ecuador February 2009

South America: found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized[1]:

  • L. v. victoriae:
  • L. v. juliae:
  • Andes of northern and central Peru
  • L. v. berlepschi:
  • Andes of south-eastern Peru

Habitat

Semi-open and shrubby areas in temperate zone of central and inter-Andean valleys and mountains to around 3500m. Also parks, gardens and agricultural land.

Behaviour

Males when diving in front of females can make a rattling sound with their wings, and in addition both song and calls have been described.

Diet

Photo © by bajadreamer
Quito, Ecuador, September 2019

They forage for nectar in the higher and mid levels.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. BF Member observations
  3. Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
  4. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Sept 2017)

Recommended Citation

External Links

Search the Gallery using the scientific name:

Search the Gallery Using the common name:

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.

Back
Top