Sparkling Violetear

Overview

The sparkling violetear (Colibri coruscans) is the largest of the violetear hummingbirds, widespread across the highlands of northern and western South America. It is often the most common hummingbird in its range, inhabiting a wide variety of semi-open landscapes from subtropical forests to high-altitude páramo.

Identification

• Size: 13–14 cm long, making it the largest of the violetears.
• Plumage: Metallic bluish-green upperparts with bluish-violet chin and blue belly; males possess long, erectile bluish-violet ear plumes.
• Tail: Metallic green with a steely blue band near the end.
• Vocalisation: Highly vocal with a song consisting of long series of monosyllabic metallic chips described as 'djit...djit...' or 'tlik...tlik...', and a short dry rattle call.

Habitat

Found in open landscapes including forest edges, woodlands, city parks, gardens, and páramo regions. The nominate subspecies ranges through the Andes from Venezuela to northern Chile and northwestern Argentina, while the germanus subspecies occupies the tepuis of southern Venezuela, western Guyana, and northwestern Brazil. Elevations typically range from 1,000 to 4,500 m, though páramo populations may descend to 2,000 m during the dry season.

Diet

Forages for nectar from a wide variety of flowering plants across all levels of the forest, from the ground to the canopy. It also captures insects on the wing.

Did you know?

The species possesses the smallest mean blood-air barrier thickness (0.183 μm) and the highest mass-specific respiratory surface area (87 cm²/g) of any bird, facilitating an extreme level of nighttime torpor that can drop body temperatures to 8 °C at high elevations.