Band-tailed Barbthroat

The band-tailed barbthroat is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long. Males weigh 5.5 to 7 g (0.19 to 0.25 oz) and females 5 to 7 g (0.18 to 0.25 oz).The adult male of the nominate subspecies has bronze-green upperparts, a dark ear patch and chin, and a dusky malar stripe. The tail is dark with white bases and tips to the feathers that create a black band near the end. The throat is ochraceous and the underparts are otherwise gray with some green feathers. It has a nearly straight bill. Voice: The band-tailed barbthroat's song is "a fast high-pitched phrase of some 5–10 notes repeated with intervals of several seconds...e.g. 'tzi-tzi-tsee-ee-tsi-tzi-tzi'." In Costa Rica the Pacific slope population has a more complex song than that of the Caribbean slope birds; it includes trills.