Long-billed Starthroat
Common name: Long-billed Starthroat
Scientific name: Heliomaster longirostris
Clades: Lampornithini - Mountain-gems
The Long-billed starthroat is 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long. The males weigh 5.5 to 7.1 g (0.19 to 0.25 oz) and the females about 6.5 g (0.23 oz).
Long-billed Starthroats inhabit humid evergreen forests and edges in tropical lowlands. Mostly feeds in the canopy, but also hawks insects with jerky fly-catching sallies over clearings and streams. A very long, straight bill, a whitish mustache, a turquoise crown, and a white patch above the rump are all characteristics that distinguish this bird. While both sexes look similar, the immature lack the adult's red throat color (which is very difficult to spot; the throat usually appears black). A white spot is usually found behind the eye, not a whitish stripe as in Plain-capped Starthroats. The plain-capped starthroat also has greenish, rather than dusky, sides.
3 subspecies:
H. l. pallidiceps
Distribution S Mexico (from Guerrero and S Veracruz) to Nicaragua.H. l. longirostris
Distribution E and SW Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia S to E Peru and E Bolivia, E to the Guianas and E Amazonia; Trinidad.H. l. albicrissa
Distribution W Ecuador to NW Peru (Cajamarca).
taken in Mexico
taken in Trinidad and Tobago
