Red-tailed Comet

Red-tailed Comet
Red-tailed Comet
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Trochiliformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Sappho
Reichenbach, 1849
Species: S. sparganura
Binomial name
Sappho sparganura
(Shaw, 1812)

The Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganura) is a medium-sized hummingbird found in the central Andes of Bolivia and Argentina[1].

Contents

Description

The male has a spectacular, long, iridescent, golden-reddish tail and reaches 22 cm in length. The female has a shorter reddish-bronze tail and reaches 15 cm in length. It has a hoarse chattery call.[2]

Habitat

Common to frequent in the woodlands and scrub typical of the dry Interandean valles extended up into Polylepis forests, and into the shrubby transition zones to high elevation puna or the moister cloud forests. Frequently around human habitation in agricultural areas, cities and towns.

Local names

In at least part of its range it is known in the local Quechua language as "Q'ori Kenti" ("golden hummingbird"). It is called the "picaflor cometa" in Spanish. The genus name refers to Sappho, an ancient Greek poet of Lesbos.

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). InfoNatura: Birds, mammals, and amphibians of Latin America [web application] (version 4.1 ed.). Arlington, Virginia (USA): NatureServe. http://www.natureserve.org/infonatura/servlet/InfoNatura?searchName=Sappho+sparganura. 
  2. ^ http://www.xeno-canto.org/XCspeciesprofiles.php?species_nr2=1371.00
  • BirdLife International (2006). Sappho sparganura. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 31 March 2007. Database entry includes justification for why this species is least concern.

External links