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Gorgeted woodstar
haetocercus heliodor
10.4108, -67.2865
Field Notes
Description:
This tiny bird is 7 cm in total length, making it one of the smallest birds native to South America alongside the short-tailed woodstar and Esmeraldas woodstar. The gorgeted woodstar is dark shining green above with a short white postocular stripe and white patch on the sides of the lower back extending to the lower flanks. The male's gorget is glittering pinkish violet and has elongated, pointed sides that hang around the throat. The white pectoral collar is less evidend than in other woodstars. The breast is grayish and the belly is blue-green. The tail is forked and fairly short, with a spiky, narrow appearance. The female is similar overall but lacks the gorget and brighter coloration. There is limited overlap in the wild with the little woodstar but the female of that species is superficially indistinguishable from this one.
Habitat:
In the garden of our Posada, Colonia Tovar, Aragua, Venezuela.
1800m above sea level.
Notes:
I am not sure about the ID. But it is the closest that I can find. It was tiny, like a bee. It kept getting chased by some bigger more impressive hummingbirds, but kept coming back! Very hard to capture.
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