The velvet-browed brilliant is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Region
Guiana Shield and northern Amazonia
Typical Environment
Occurs in northern Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and southern Venezuela, mainly in humid lowland and foothill forests. It frequents forest edges, clearings with flowering shrubs, and riverine thickets. Birds often forage along semi-open trails and light gaps within mature forest. It perches in the midstory between feeding bouts and may defend rich nectar resources.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1400 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A large hummingbird of the brilliants (tribe Heliantheini), the velvet-browed brilliant inhabits humid forests of the Guiana Shield in northern South America. Males show a distinctive velvety dark brow above a glittering green face and throat. It forages by hovering at flowers and also hawks tiny insects for protein. Nests are neat cups of plant down bound with spider silk and placed on sheltered branches.
Temperament
territorial and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with agile hovering
Social Behavior
Typically solitary away from breeding, with males defending flower-rich patches from other hummingbirds. Courtship involves aerial chases and display flights. The nest is a small cup built from plant fibers and spider silk, usually placed on a horizontal branch; the typical clutch is two eggs, incubated by the female.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are thin, high-pitched tsee and tsip notes, given intermittently while foraging. Males add short, insect-like trills during aggressive or display flights.
Plumage
Iridescent emerald-green overall with bronzy tones; males have a velvety dark forehead/brow and glittering green throat. Underparts are mostly shining green with slightly paler belly; tail bronzy to greenish with rufous-tinged edges. Females are duller with a paler, whitish to grayish throat mottled with green.
Diet
Takes nectar from a variety of flowering shrubs, vines, and understory trees, often including Heliconia, Inga, and Psychotria. Supplements its diet with small arthropods captured by aerial hawking or gleaned from foliage, providing essential protein. It may defend rich nectar sources against other hummingbirds but also engages in traplining along regular routes.
Preferred Environment
Feeds along forest edges, light gaps, riversides, and clearings where flowering plants are abundant. Also forages in the shaded understory and midstory of mature humid forest.
