Gorgeted Woodstar - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by Luis R
Boconó, Estado Trujillo, Venezuela, July 2012

Chaetocercus heliodor

Acestrura heliodor

Identification

6,4 cm, Bill 1,3 cm

Distribution

This is a scarce hummingbird found on the eastern side of the Andes in Central and north-western South America: occurs in Panama, Colombia Venezuela and Ecuador

Taxonomy

Female, race cleavesi
Photo by steveblain
Guango, Ecuador, January 2006

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• C. h. heliodor:

• Andes of Colombia and western Ecuador to north-western Venezuela (Mérida)

• C. h. cleavesi:

• Andes of north-eastern Ecuador

Habitat

Humid and wet forest and forest edges.

Behaviour

Often seen hovering beelike or perched alone

Photo by dubi
Guango Lodge, Ecuador, February 2009

Diet

Their diet consists of nectar and insects which are hawked aerially.

Breeding

They make a cup-shaped nest.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2014)
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Gorgeted Woodstar. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Gorgeted_Woodstar

External Links

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