Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (Chalybura urochrysia)
Name Origin:
The genus name Chalybura comes from the Greek chalybs (“steel”) and oura (“tail”), referring to the metallic sheen of the tail feathers. The species name urochrysia also derives from Greek, combining oura (“tail”) and chrysos (“gold”), a poetic reference to its bronzy-golden tail.
Quick Facts
🪶 Length: 10–12 cm (3.9–4.7 in)
⚖️ Weight: 6–7 g (0.21–0.25 oz)
🌎 Range: Eastern Honduras to northwestern Ecuador
🧭 Elevation: 300–1,500 m (980–4,900 ft)
🌸 Diet: Nectar and small arthropods
🏡 Habitat: Humid forest edges, shaded plantations, and secondary growth
🧬 Clade: Trochilini "Emeralds" (mid-elevation hummingbirds)
📊 Status: Least Concern (IUCN)
Subspecies & Distribution
1. Chalybura urochrysia melanorrhoa
Distribution: Found on the Caribbean slope of eastern Honduras, eastern Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
2. Chalybura urochrysia isaurae
Distribution: Occurs on the Caribbean slope of Panama to extreme northwest Colombia. Also found locally on the Pacific slope in western and central Panama and widely in eastern Panama.
3. Chalybura urochrysia urochrysia
Distribution: Found in extreme southeastern Panama (eastern Darién), north-central and western Colombia, and extreme northwestern Ecuador.
Species Overview
The Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is a robust and glittering hummingbird of humid lowland and foothill forests. Its metallic green body, contrasting dark wings, and gleaming bronze tail make it instantly recognizable as it darts among forest edges and plantations. The species is often found near flowering trees and shrubs, where it aggressively defends its feeding territories.
Male Description:
The male has brilliant metallic green plumage, a shimmering bronze or coppery tail, and dusky flight feathers. The throat and breast are uniformly green, giving it a solid, glossy appearance. The bill is straight, black, and moderately long. In flight, the bronze tail often catches sunlight, flashing golden reflections.
Female Description:
The female is similar but paler below, with grayish underparts lightly washed with green, and a bronzy-green tail tipped with pale gray. Her plumage is less intensely iridescent, especially under diffused light.
Habitat & Behavior:
This species inhabits humid foothill and lowland forests, forest borders, and shade coffee plantations, usually between 300 and 1,500 meters elevation. It feeds on nectar from Inga, Heliconia, and Hamelia, and also takes small insects by hawking or gleaning from foliage. The Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is territorial and vocal, frequently giving sharp, metallic tsik calls. Males defend feeding trees with rapid chases and short hovering displays.
Conservation Note:
The Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN and remains locally common across its range. It tolerates moderate habitat alteration and is often seen in secondary forests and agroforestry systems. However, continued deforestation of foothill forests may isolate populations. Protecting nectar-rich forest edges and mid-elevation corridors ensures the stability of this radiant Trochilini species.
Below is the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (Chalybura urochrysia urochrysia)
Photographed at Donde Cope – La Unión de Guápiles, Limón, and Arenal Observatory Lodge and Trails, Costa Rica
These individuals belong to the nominate subspecies urochrysia, which occurs along the Caribbean slope of Central America from Honduras south through Nicaragua and Costa Rica into western Panama. It inhabits humid lowland and foothill forest, forest edge, and shaded gardens, generally from sea level up to 1,000 meters.
