The crimson topaz is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Region
Guiana Shield and northern Amazon Basin
Typical Environment
Occurs in lowland evergreen rainforest, especially along blackwater and whitewater rivers, river islands, and forest edges. Frequently uses the canopy and subcanopy and visits flowering trees on riverbanks and in natural gaps. Also forages in seasonally flooded várzea and along oxbow lakes. Most records are from Brazil north of the Amazon, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and southern Venezuela. It is generally local but can be fairly common where suitable flowering resources persist.
Altitude Range
0–800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
One of the largest and most spectacular hummingbirds, the crimson topaz shimmers with jewel-like iridescence that inspired its name. Males have extremely long, racket-tipped tail feathers used in display flights over rivers. The species shows strong sexual dimorphism, with females much shorter-tailed and mainly green above. It is typically seen along forested rivers in the Guianas and northern Amazon Basin.
Museum specimen
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with agile hovering; swift darting flights
Social Behavior
Generally solitary outside of breeding, with males defending rich flower patches along rivers. Courtship involves aerial chases and display flights that emphasize the long tail streamers. The female builds a small cup nest, often suspended over or near water on a horizontal branch, and incubates and raises the young alone.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are high, thin tseet notes and sharp chips given during foraging and territorial encounters. Wing hum is prominent at close range, especially during display flights.
Plumage
Male is intensely iridescent crimson to coppery-red on the body with a glittering golden-green throat, a blackish head, and very long, racket-tipped outer tail feathers; wings appear dusky. Female lacks the long tail streamers, is mostly green above with whitish to buff underparts lightly spotted or scalloped, and has a shorter, more rounded tail with white tips. Both sexes show a long, straight to slightly decurved bill typical of hummingbirds.
Diet
Primarily takes nectar from a variety of tubular and brushy flowers in the canopy and along river margins, favoring abundant blooming trees and epiphytes. Supplements nectar with small arthropods for protein, hawking insects in mid-air or gleaning them from foliage and spider webs. This mixed diet supports high-energy hovering and breeding demands.
Preferred Environment
Feeds along forested waterways, river islands, and at edges and canopy gaps where flowering trees are concentrated. Often visits emergent trees overhanging water and epiphyte-laden branches in the subcanopy and canopy.
