Blue-tailed Emerald

Common name: Blue-tailed Emerald
Scientific name: Chlorostilbon mellisugus
Clades: Trochilini - Emeralds

Blue-tailed Emeralds are 7.5 to 9.5 cm (3.0 to 3.7 in) long and 2.7 g (0.095 oz).

Green is the dominant color on males, while white is found on their thighs and blue is sometimes seen on their faces and breasts. Perched, the tail is nearly equal in length to the primaries, and the bill is straight and black. On females, the upperparts are lighter green while the underparts are gray, with limited green areas on the flanks. Despite their pale throat, they appear vaguely masked because of their dark auriculars and white post-ocular stripes. There are fewer forks in the tails of females and their tips are paler. Foraging at low levels is common. It often dangles from a low perch and forages quickly to flowering trees or shrubs.

6 subspecies:

1. C. m. caribaeus
   Distribution is found on the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Trinidad, and Margarita. On the mainland, it is found across northern Venezuela

2. C. m. duidae
   Distribution is currently considered endemic to the Mt. Duida region in southern Venezuela (Amazonas)

3. C. m. subfurcatus
   Distribution Eastern and southern Venezuela, Guyana, and in the Rio Branco region of northwest Brazil

4. C. m. mellisugus
   Distribution in Suriname, French Guiana, and lower Amazon watershed of northeastern Brazil

5. C. m. phoeopygus
   Distribution Upper Amazon and its E tributaries in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and western Brazil

6. C. m. peruanus
   Distribution southeastern Peru, northern Bolivia and possibly in extreme southwestern Brazil