Doctor bird, Scissor-tail, Scissors tail
The red-billed streamertail (Trochilus polytmus ), also known as the doctor bird, scissor-tail or scissors tail hummingbird, is indigenous to Jamaica, where it is the most abundant and widespread member of the hummingbird family. While most authorities now consider it a separate species, some (including the American Ornithologists' Union) continue to consider it conspecific with the black-billed streamertail.
The red-billed streamertail is the national bird of Jamaica.
The bird is featured in Ian Fleming's James Bond short story For Your Eyes Only. The first line of the story, the title story of the 1960 collection, reads, "The most beautiful bird in Jamaica, and some say the most beautiful bird in the world, is the streamer-tail or doctor humming-bird."
These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue or catch small insects on the wing. The next-to-outermost rectrices of the male are 15–18 centimetres (6–7 in) long, far longer than its bearer's body. Females lack the elongated rectrices, and are largely white below. Adult males in flight produce a distinctive whirring flight sound. The whirring is synchronised with the wingbeats and video footage shows primary feather eight (P8) bending with each downstroke, creating a gap that produces the fluttering sound. Bird sound other than via vocal organs is referred to as sonation.
