How big is a Red-tailed Comet?

The Red-tailed Comet is a tiny sized bird weighing about 5 g.

Where can you see a Red-tailed Comet?

The Red-tailed Comet occurs in 2 countries, including Argentina and Bolivia.

What birds look similar to a Red-tailed Comet?

The Red-tailed Comet is most easily confused with the White-bellied Hummingbird, the Fiery-throated Hummingbird and the Mountain Velvetbreast.

Is the Red-tailed Comet endangered?

The Red-tailed Comet is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Red-tailed Comet

Sappho sparganurus

Hummingbirds · Apodiformes · Uncommon

The Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus) is a uncommon hummingbird found in 2 countries, weighing about 5 g. The red-tailed comet is a medium-sized hummingbird belonging to tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae, the "coquettes".

Least ConcernUncommonEats nectarshrublandcup nest5 g

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 1 — Photo: Ezequiel Vera · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 2 — Photo: Nico Yak · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 3 — Photo: Facundo Chieffo · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 4 — Photo: Facundo Chieffo · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 5 — Photo: Naturalist Tours · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 6 — Photo: Naturalist Tours · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 7 — Photo: jose_balderrama · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 8 — Photo: Ariadna Tripaldi · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 9 — Photo: Ariadna Tripaldi · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 10 — Photo: Ernst Haeckel · Public domain

About the Red-tailed Comet

The red-tailed comet is a medium-sized hummingbird belonging to tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae, the "coquettes". It is found in Argentina and Bolivia and possibly Chile and Peru.

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

How to identify it

Male red-tailed comets are 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long including their 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in) tail. Females are 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long. The species weighs about 4 to 6.5 g (0.14 to 0.23 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a shining green head with a golden green or emerald green gorget. Their back and rump are reddish purple and their underparts mostly green with buffy undertail coverts. Their tail is long and deeply forked. Its upper surface looks reddish purple to green depending on the angle of the light striking it. Voice: What is thought to be the red-tailed comet's song is "a short, rapid, jumbled chatter". It also makes an "unmelodic tjrrrt" and "rather harsh tsha or zack notes, which may be monotonously repeated at more than 1 s intervals".

Where it lives

Argentina Bolivia

When to see it

The Red-tailed Comet can be seen all year round, with peak activity in October. It is a resident species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

How do you identify a Red-tailed Comet?: Male red-tailed comets are 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long including their 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in) tail. Full identification notes are on this page.
How big is a Red-tailed Comet?: The Red-tailed Comet is a tiny sized bird weighing about 5 g.
Where can you see a Red-tailed Comet?: The Red-tailed Comet occurs in 2 countries, including Argentina and Bolivia.
What birds look similar to a Red-tailed Comet?: The Red-tailed Comet is most easily confused with the White-bellied Hummingbird, the Fiery-throated Hummingbird and the Mountain Velvetbreast.
Is the Red-tailed Comet endangered?: The Red-tailed Comet is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Learn the Red-tailed Comet for real

BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.

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