The green thorntail is a small hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama.
Region
Central America to northwestern South America
Typical Environment
Occurs from Costa Rica and Panama into western Colombia and Ecuador. Favors humid evergreen forest, forest edges, and adjacent second growth, often near flowering trees and epiphytes. Commonly forages in the mid-story to canopy but will descend to gardens and flowering shrubs at forest margins. It tolerates some habitat disturbance provided flowers are abundant.
Altitude Range
0–1600 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A tiny hummingbird of the coquettes, the green thorntail is named for the male’s extremely thin, needle-like outer tail feathers that end in small spines. It spends much of its time high in the canopy, visiting bursts of flowers and making rapid, agile sallies. Females build delicate cup nests from plant down bound with spider silk, usually on slender horizontal branches.
Temperament
active and agile; mildly territorial at rich flower patches
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with sustained hovering and quick darting sallies
Social Behavior
Typically solitary while feeding but may gather loosely at heavily blooming trees. Males display by hovering and spreading the tail; aggression is brief and mostly at nectar sources. The tiny cup nest is built from plant down and spider web, and the usual clutch is two eggs.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are high, thin chips and short, buzzy trills delivered during foraging or brief chases. Wing hum is pronounced during close passes and displays.
Plumage
Male is shimmering emerald-green overall with a very long, attenuated tail whose outer feathers are reduced to narrow shafts; female is green above with whitish underparts marked with green spotting or scaling and a shorter, slightly notched tail with white tips.
Diet
Takes nectar from a variety of small tubular flowers in the canopy and mid-story, including epiphytes and flowering trees. Supplements nectar with small arthropods captured by hawking or gleaning from foliage. Often moves rapidly between flowering patches, exploiting brief blooms. May follow flowering phenology locally rather than defend a single territory.
Preferred Environment
Feeds most often along forest edges, gaps, and in the canopy of humid forest where flowers are concentrated. Also visits gardens and second growth with nectar-rich shrubs.
