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Little Woodstar

Chaetocercus bombus

Near Threatened · IUCN Red List

NTNear ThreatenedNectarForestTiny · 7 g
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 1
Photo: Ryan F. Mandelbaum · CC BY 4.0
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 2
Photo: Martin Vallejos · CC BY 4.0
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 3
Photo: Martin Vallejos · CC BY 4.0
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 4
Photo: Skjold Søndergaard · CC BY 4.0
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 5
Photo: Skjold Søndergaard · CC BY 4.0
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 6
Photo: Skjold Søndergaard · CC BY 4.0
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 7
Photo: Skjold Søndergaard · CC BY 4.0
Little Woodstar (Chaetocercus bombus), photo 8
Photo: Skjold Søndergaard · CC BY 4.0

What the Little Woodstar sounds like

Sonogram of the Little Woodstar: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Hum · Azuay: upper Yunguilla Valley, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Little Woodstar: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call, feeding call, hum · Azuay: upper Yunguilla Valley, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Little Woodstar: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call, chase calls · Azuay: upper Yunguilla Valley, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The little woodstar is 6 to 7 cm (2.4 to 2.8 in) long. Both sexes have a straightish black bill. The male is mostly dark bronzy blue-green. It has a buffy white line behind the eye that curves down to meet the buffy chest. Its gorget is rosy. The tail is forked and its outermost feathers are shafts with no vanes. The female is bronzy green above and mostly cinnamon below with tawny flanks and vent. The tail is rounded and tawny with a black bar near the end. Voice: What is thought to be the little woodstar's song is "a mixture of chips, twitters and buzzy notes, 'tsitsitsi..tzzeee-tzzeee..chichip'." It makes "a single dry 'chip' or doubled 'chichip'" while feeding and hovering and "a squeaky 'kswee-kswee-ti-ti-ti'" while interacting with other hummingbirds.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Little Woodstar

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Little Woodstar

Regular range

The map shades 2 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Peru Ecuador

About the Little Woodstar

The little woodstar, called estrellita chica in South America, is a Near Threatened species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is found in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Santa Marta Woodstar (Chaetocercus astreans) Santa Marta WoodstarChaetocercus astreansThe Santa Marta woodstar is about 7 cm (2.8 in) long. Rufous-shafted Woodstar (Chaetocercus jourdanii) Rufous-shafted WoodstarChaetocercus jourdaniiThe rufous-shafted woodstar is 6 to 8 cm (2.4 to 3.1 in) long. Esmeraldas Woodstar (Chaetocercus berlepschi) Esmeraldas WoodstarChaetocercus berlepschiAt only about 6 centimeters long, Esmeraldas woodstars are among the smallest species of hummingbird.

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