Lazuline Sabrewing

Overview

The lazuline sabrewing (Campylopterus falcatus) is a species of hummingbird belonging to the emeralds tribe. It is a sedentary bird classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, though it is considered uncommon and patchily distributed in the northern Andes.

Identification

• Males possess glittering green upperparts that are bluer on the crown, with a throat and breast that shift from dark violet-blue to blue on the green belly.
• Females share the green upperparts but have a glittering bluish throat and pale gray underparts marked with green spots on the flanks.
• Both sexes feature a black decurved bill, a white spot behind the eye, and a chestnut tail with wide bronze-green tips on the central feathers.
• Males sing a varied song described as "chik, it, chik, it splek, chat, seet, chik, seet, chik, it, chik, it..., etc." from exposed perches.

Habitat

Found in the mountains of north-central and western Venezuela, the Sierra de Perijá, and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Eastern Andes of Colombia, extending into Ecuador as far south as Napo Province. The species inhabits semi-deciduous montane forest, plantation edges, lower páramo reaches, and gardens, typically between 900 and 3,000 m in elevation.

Diet

This hummingbird forages for nectar from the understory to the forest's mid-level, usually by trap-lining but occasionally defending flower patches. It also consumes insects captured in the air or gleaned from vegetation.

Did you know?

Despite its sensitivity to habitat changes, the species readily accepts man-made environments such as flowering gardens and plantations.