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Red-tailed Comet

Sappho sparganurus

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernNectarShrublandCup nestTiny · 5 g
Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 1
Photo: Hugo Hulsberg · CC0
Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 2
Photo: Jonathan Eisen · CC BY 4.0
Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 3
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 4
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 5
Photo: Cesar Hugo STORERO · CC BY 2.0
Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 6
Photo: James St. John · CC BY 2.0
Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus), photo 7
Photo: Cesar Hugo STORERO · CC BY 2.0

ID tip

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".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Red-tailed Comet

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

Where to see the Red-tailed Comet

Regular range

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

Argentina Bolivia

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.

Easily confused with

White-bellied Hummingbird (Elliotomyia chionogaster) White-bellied HummingbirdElliotomyia chionogasterThe white-bellied hummingbird is 9 to 12 cm (3.5 to 4.7 in) long. Fiery-throated Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis) Fiery-throated HummingbirdPanterpe insignisThe fiery-throated hummingbird is 10.5 to 11 cm (4.1 to 4.3 in) long. Mountain Velvetbreast (Lafresnaya lafresnayi) Mountain VelvetbreastLafresnaya lafresnayiThe mountain velvetbreast is 11.5 to 12 cm (4.5 to 4.7 in) long including its 2.7 to 3.2 cm (1.1 to 1.3 in) bill.

Side by side: Red-tailed Comet vs White-bellied Hummingbird · Fiery-throated Hummingbird vs Red-tailed Comet · Mountain Velvetbreast vs Red-tailed Comet

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