Blue-chinned Sapphire

Overview

The Chlorestes notata, also known as the blue-chinned emerald, is a small hummingbird found from Colombia through to Brazil. It inhabits forests and cultivated areas with large trees across the Americas.

Identification

• Length of 8.9 cm with a weight of 3.8 g.
• Males have mainly green plumage, white thighs, a forked metallic blue tail, and a blue upper throat.
• Females possess green-spotted white underparts.
• The bill is fairly straight, featuring a black upper mandible and a reddish lower mandible.
• The song is described as a high metallic 'ssooo-ssooo-ssooo'.

Habitat

This species ranges from Colombia south and east to the Guianas, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, and Brazil. In Brazil, it occupies the Amazon River Basin and the Atlantic Forest along a 3,000 km coastal strip. It primarily resides in forests and sometimes in cultivated areas that contain large trees.

Diet

The bird feeds on insects and nectar, foraging mainly in trees but also on vines, shrubs, herbs, epiphytes, and smaller plants such as Heliconia.

Did you know?

The female constructs a deep cup nest from lichen and fine plant material on a horizontal branch, with an incubation period of 16 days followed by 18–19 days to fledging.