Wire-crested thorntail

Discosura popelairii

Photo by Niels Dreyer (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
wire-crested thorntail (en); bandeirinha-de-Popelaire (pt); coquette de Popelaire (fr); rabudito crestado (es); haubenfadenelfe (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Apodiformes
Family Trochilidae

Range:
This species is found along the eastern slopes of the Andes, from central Colombia to southern Peru.

Size:
These birds are sexually dimorphic. The females are 7,5-8 cm long, while the males are up to 11,5 cm long including the elongated tail feathers. They weigh about 2,5 g.

Habitat:
The wire-crested thorntail is found in moist tropical forests at altitudes of 400-1.200 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on nectar, particularly of Inga trees, but also take some arthropods.

Breeding:
The is little information about the reproduction of wire-crested thorntails. One nest was found in Colombia, in April, placed at the end of a tree branch about 8 m above the ground.

Conservation:
IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)
This species has a large breeding range but is described as generally rare to uncommon. Although there is no data on population trends, the wire-crested thorntail is suspected to lose 28% of suitable habitat within its range over the next decade based on a model of Amazonian deforestation, being therefore suspected to suffer a moderately rapid decline in the near future.