Bird Guide

Purple-bibbed Whitetip vs Sword-billed Hummingbird

Purple-bibbed Whitetip (Urosticte benjamini)

Purple-bibbed Whitetip

Urosticte benjamini

Tiny4 gForest

The purple-bibbed whitetip is 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) long and weighs 3.8 to 4.2 g (0.13 to 0.15 oz). Both sexes have a medium-length straight black bill and a prominent white stripe behind the eye. Both have glittering green upperparts. Males have a violet lower throat white below it and a grayish belly with green spots. The tail is dusky bronze; the central feathers have wide white tips that appear as an oval spot. Females have white underparts heavily spotted with green. The tail is dusky bronze with purple near the end and white tips on the outer feathers. Voice: The purple-bibbed whitetip makes a "mellow, nasal-sounding fast twittering 'tweetweetweetwee...'" that can sound like "a laughing chatter". While feeding in flight it also makes "single lower-pitched scratchy notes, 'chrrrrr'". Another call is a "very high-pitched 'pseee'."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Anna Hess · CC BY 4.0
Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera)

Sword-billed Hummingbird

Ensifera ensifera

Tiny11 gForest

The sword-billed hummingbird is among the largest species of hummingbirds. Adults are 13–14 centimetres (5.1–5.5 in) long excluding the bill and weigh 10–15 g (0.35–0.53 oz), with males being slightly larger on average than females. The most distinctive feature of the species is the enormous bill, which is 8–12 centimetres (3.1–4.7 in) long. The bill is the largest of any hummingbird and the largest with respect to body length for any bird. The sword-billed hummingbird displays sexual dimorphism. Males have shorter bills but longer wings and tails than females. Voice: The sword-billed hummingbird makes a low, guttural, slightly trilled trrr.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Sword-billed Hummingbird
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Flight call · Pichincha: Yanacocha, Volcán Pichincha, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Purple-bibbed Whitetip and Sword-billed Hummingbird.