Steely-vented hummingbird
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Saucerottia saucerottei
Weight
5
0
goz
g oz 
Length
9
4
cminch
cm inch 

The steely-vented hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei ) is a medium-sized hummingbird that is a resident breeder from Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. The Central American birds differ in voice and behaviour from those in South America and may be a separate species, the blue-vented hummingbird (S. hoffmanni ).

Appearance

The steely-vented hummingbird is 9 cm (3.5 in) long and weighs 4.5 g (0.16 oz). It is mainly bronze-green above, becoming more bronze on the wing, lower back and rump, and has a blue-black tail. The male has glittering green underparts, white thighs and a blue vent. The female is duller green below and has grey-buff edges to the vent feathers. Young birds are dull dark bronze-green below.

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The steely-vented hummingbird has a trilled descending chit call in South America, but the Blue-vented from Central America has a high sharp tsip. The male's song in Costa Rica is a buzzy bzz WEEP wup.

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Distribution

Geography

This hummingbird inhabits open woodland such as second growth, coffee plantations, gardens, savanna, and the edges and gaps of evergreen forests. It occurs from sea level up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft).

Steely-vented hummingbird habitat map

Climate zones

Steely-vented hummingbird habitat map
Steely-vented hummingbird
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Habits and Lifestyle

The nest is a cup of plant down and cobwebs, decorated outside with lichen and placed on a small outside twig 2–7 m (6.6–23.0 ft) high in a small tree. The female alone incubates the two white eggs.

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This hummingbird feeds at many types of flowers, including epiphytes and Heliconias, and both sexes are aggressive and territorial, defending favoured areas.

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Seasonal behavior

Diet and Nutrition

Population

References

1. Steely-vented hummingbird Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steely-vented_hummingbird
2. Steely-vented hummingbird on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22687590/93159381

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