Short-tailed Woodstar

Myrmia micrura

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernNectarShrublandCup nestTiny · 2 g

What the Short-tailed Woodstar sounds like

Sonogram of the Short-tailed Woodstar: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Flight call, song · Guayas: 3 km E Pacoa Beach, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Short-tailed Woodstar: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Flight call, song · Guayas: 3 km E Pacoa Beach, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Short-tailed 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 call · Guayas: 3 km E Pacoa Beach, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The short-tailed woodstar is about 6 cm (2.4 in) long and weighs about 2.3 g (0.081 oz). It and the gorgeted woodstar (Chaetocercus heliodor) are the smallest birds in South America, though the little woodstar (C. bombus) is only slightly longer. It has a very short, slightly decurved, black bill. Both sexes have shining green upperparts. Males have a white stripe from the bill to below the eye. Their gorget is glittering violet and the breast white with dingy flanks. Their very short tail's central feathers are green and the rest blackish. Voice: The male short-tailed woodstar's song, given during the display flight, is "a sweet, high series of tititi notes interspersed with a high sweee." The species' call is a "thin tchi-tchi-tchi."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Short-tailed 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 Short-tailed Woodstar

Regular range

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

About the Short-tailed Woodstar

The short-tailed woodstar is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is the only species placed in the genus Myrmia. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.

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

Easily confused with

Side by side: Pale-tailed Barbthroat vs Short-tailed Woodstar · Short-tailed Emerald vs Short-tailed Woodstar

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