Disambiguation: this entry covers the eastern part of the old Long-tailed Hermit. For the rest, see Long-billed Hermit
- Phaethornis superciliosus
Identification
13.5cm.
- Dull greenish-brown upperparts washed brown on rump
- Pale buffy edges to long upper-tail coverts
- Pale grey buff below
- Tail and wings warm earth-brown washed purple with thin white tips on tail
- Long, white tipped, central tail feathers
- Dark mask from eye to auricular and short black malar stripe are surrounded by buffy to buffy-grey stripes (most noticable is the postocular)
- Long decurved bill with black culmen and orange-red lower mandible which is tipped dark
Distribution
Venezuela, Guianas, and north-eastern Brazil.
Taxonomy
There are 2 subspecies: superciliosus and muelleri.
A species called Long-tailed Hermit (P. superciliosus) in the 1996 Sibley & Monroe taxonomy was subsequently split into Eastern Long-tailed Hermit (P. superciliosus) and Western Long-tailed Hermit (P. longirostris). The second part has since been renamed Long-billed Hermit allowing the species treated here to be named back to the shorter Long-tailed Hermit.
Habitat
Undergrowth of forests near water.
Behaviour
The female builds a cone shaped nest from plant fibres and cobwebs; 2 white eggs are laid and the female alone incubates them and cares for the young.
The diet includes nectar, small insects and spiders.
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Long-tailed Hermit. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Long-tailed_Hermit
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
