









About the Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
The scaly-breasted hummingbird or scaly-breasted sabrewing is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
The scaly-breasted hummingbird is 11.5 to 13 cm (4.5 to 5.1 in) long and weighs about 8 to 10 g (0.28 to 0.35 oz). All of the subspecies except P. c. roberti have a mostly black bill with a pink base to the mandible; roberti's is all black. Males and females of all subspecies have the same plumage but females have a longer bill. The nominate subspecies P. c. cuvierii is the smallest and palest subspecies. It is mostly bronzy green with a grayish buff belly. The feathers of the underparts have buffy edges that give a scaly appearance. Voice: The scaly-breasted hummingbird's song is "a loud, variable, continuous warble...a mix of chips, sharp squeaks and short trills or sputters". During chases it makes "a high-pitched descending trill" and other calls include "a repeated short burry 'trrk', wet 'tlek', and a more emphatic 'chick'."
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in January · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Steely-vented HummingbirdSaucerottia saucerotteiThe steely-vented hummingbird is 8 to 11 cm (3.1 to 4.3 in) long and weighs about 4.4 to 5.0 g (0.16 to 0.18 oz).
Learn the Scaly-breasted Hummingbird 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.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.