Marvelous Spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis)

Identification & Behavior: ~9.5 cm (3.7 in)-female. The male Marvelous Spatuletail is green above with an iridescent purple-blue cap. The underparts are white with a broad central black stripe, and an iridescent turquoise-green gorget. The tail in an adult male has only four feathers, two of which are very long with a racquet-like tip. The female is green above. The underparts are whitish with green specks.  The tail in the female is relatively long, mostly green on the upper side and whitish with dusky tips on the underside. The bill in both sexes is black and straight. The female may resemble a female Green-tailed Trainbearer.

Status: Endemic. The Marvelous Spatuletail is uncommon in semi-humid scrub and forest edges of the Utcubamba Valley where it ranges at elevations between 2000-2900 m.

Name in Spanish: Colibrí Cola de Espátula.

Sub-species: Marvelous Spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis), Bourcier, 1847.

Meaning of Name: Loddigesia: In honor of George Loddiges (1786-1846) English horticulturalist, microscopist and trochilidist. mirabilis:  L.  mirari= to admire mirus=  wonderful, astonishing, mirabilis= marvelous.

See more of the Family Trochilidae