Black-eared Fairy

Taxobox
name = Black-eared Fairy

---

image_caption = male from Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Apodiformes
familia = Trochilidae
genus = "Heliothryx"
species = "H. auritus"
binomial = "Heliothryx auritus"
binomial_authority = Gmelin, 1788
synonyms = The Black-eared Fairy ("Heliothryx auritus") is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family.It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

A medium-sized tropical hummingbird. It has bright green upperparts, white underparts and a black mask. The relatively short, straight bill is black. The graduated tail is blue-black in the center, with white outer tail feathers (i.e. typically appear blue-black from above, white from below). Depending on subspecies, the male has a green malar or throat. The female is similar, but with a longer tail and no green malar/throat.

Breeds all year around, nest is a cup made of down attached to a branch about 3-30 meter above ground. Clutch size is 2 eggs incubated by female for about 15 days. Young fledge after 23-26 days. First brood in second year.

This hummingbird hawks small insects in the air, as well as gleaning them from foliage. When feeding on nectar, it sometimes pierces a small hole at the base of large flowers, giving access to nectar that otherwise only is accessible to hummingbirds with longer bills.

References

* BirdLife International 2004. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/48435/all Heliothryx auritus] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 10 July 2007.