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Coppery Metaltail - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Stanley Jones
Bosque Unchog, Cochabamba, Huánuco, Peru, August 2017
Metallura theresiae

Identification

11 cm (4¼ in)
Male

  • Straight black bill
  • Olive-bronze overall plumage with coppery-red iridescence

Distribution

South America: found only in Peru.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies[1]:

  • M. t. parkeri:
  • Andes of northern Peru (Cordillera de Colán)
  • M. t. theresiae:
  • Andes of northern Peru (Amazonas to Huánuco)

An additional subspecies rubriginosa is generally considered invalid[2].

Habitat

Elfin forest with pockets of grassland sphagnum bogs, where they occur in shrubby open glades. Observed at heights around 3,589 m.

Behaviour

Diet

They hover-feed from flowers of Melastomataceae shrubs.

Breeding

The female lays and incubates the two white eggs.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Oct 2017)

Recommended Citation

External Links

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