Copper-rumped Hummingbird

Jul 17

Copper-rumped Hummingbird (Saucerottia tobaci)

Name Origin:
The genus name Saucerottia honors Antoine Claudius Saucerotte, an 18th-century French physician and naturalist. The species name tobaci refers to Tobago, the island where the type specimen was first described.

Quick Facts

🪶 Length: 9–10.5 cm (3.5–4.1 in)
⚖️ Weight: 4–5 g (0.14–0.18 oz)
🌎 Range: Trinidad, Tobago, and northern Venezuela
🧭 Elevation: Sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft)
🌸 Diet: Nectar and small insects
🏡 Habitat: Lowland forest, plantations, gardens, and mangroves
🧬 Clade: Trochilini "Emeralds" (lowland hummingbirds)
📊 Status: Least Concern (IUCN 2024)

Subspecies & Distribution

1. Saucerottia tobaci tobaci
Distribution: Island of Tobago.

2. Saucerottia tobaci erythronotos
Distribution: Island of Trinidad.

3. Saucerottia tobaci aliciae
Distribution: Isla Margarita, off northern Venezuela.

4. Saucerottia tobaci monticola
Distribution: Northwestern Venezuela, in the mountains of central Falcón, Lara, and Yaracuy.

5. Saucerottia tobaci feliciae
Distribution: Northern and central Venezuela, from Carabobo to Anzoátegui, extending south to Táchira, western Apure, and Guárico.

6. Saucerottia tobaci caudata
Distribution: Northeastern Venezuela, in the mountains of Sucre and Monagas.

7. Saucerottia tobaci caurensis
Distribution: Eastern and southeastern Venezuela, in Bolívar and northern Amazonas.

Species Overview

The Copper-rumped Hummingbird is a radiant and adaptable Trochilini hummingbird of the Caribbean and northern South America. Common across its range, it is easily identified by its glowing copper rump, glittering green body, and constant activity among flowering trees. It frequents gardens, plantations, and forest edges, showing remarkable tolerance for human presence.

Male Description:
The male displays bright metallic green upperparts, a shimmering bronze-copper rump and tail, and green underparts with a golden sheen. The bill is black and slightly decurved, and the wings are dark with faint violet reflections. In sunlight, the rump and tail flash copper-red tones that give the species its name.

Female Description:
The female resembles the male but is slightly duller overall, with a less intensely colored rump and a grayer tone to the underparts. Her tail shows narrow pale tips on the outer feathers.

Habitat & Behavior:
This species inhabits lowland forests, forest edges, mangroves, and gardens, often from sea level up to 1,500 meters. It feeds on nectar from Hamelia, Inga, Cordia, and Erythrina, as well as small insects. The Copper-rumped Hummingbird is active, aggressive, and highly territorial, chasing other hummingbirds from feeding areas with loud, buzzy tsip calls. It frequently perches in the open, flicking its wings and tail between feeding bouts.

Conservation Note:
The Copper-rumped Hummingbird is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN and remains abundant and stable across its range. Its adaptability to cultivated and urban areas allows it to thrive despite deforestation. Subspecies variation reflects its geographic isolation on islands and across Venezuela’s mountain systems. Conservation of native flowering shrubs and riparian habitats continues to support robust populations of this dazzling Trochilini hummingbird.

Below is the Copper-rumped Hummingbird (Saucerottia tobaci erythronotos)

Photographed at Yerette – Home of the Hummingbird, Tunapuna-Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago

This individual belongs to erythronotos, the Trinidad subspecies. It is common on Trinidad in forest edge, gardens, and plantations.