Steely-vented Hummingbird

Steely‑vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei)

Name Origin:
The genus Saucerottia honors the French physician and ornithologist Antoine Constant Saucerotte. The species name saucerottei likewise commemorates him.

Quick Facts

🪶 Length: ~8.5‑9.5 cm (3.3‑3.7 in)
⚖️ Weight: ~4.0‑5.0 g (0.14‑0.18 oz)
🌎 Range: Northern Colombia and north‑western Venezuela
🧭 Elevation: Sea level to ~1,500 m
🌸 Diet: Nectar and small arthropods
🏡 Habitat: Open woodland, forest edge, scrub, garden and plantation margins
🧬 Clade: Trochilini (“Emeralds”)
📊 Status: Least Concern (IUCN 2024)

Subspecies & Distribution

Three subspecies:

1. Saucerottia saucerottei warscewiczi
   Distribution: Northern Colombia (La Guajira to Sucre and Norte de Santander) and extreme north‑western Venezuela (western Zulia).

2. Saucerottia saucerottei saucerottei
   Distribution: Western and north‑central Colombia (west slope of Western Andes, Cauca Valley).

3. Saucerottia saucerottei braccata
   Distribution: Western Venezuela (Andes from Trujillo to Mérida).

Species Overview

The Steely‑vented Hummingbird is a compact emerald hummingbird with a bronzy‑green upperpart and steel‑blue to dark tail. It favours edge habitats and semi‑open scrub rather than deep forest. Males display a metallic green body, dark undertail coverts and a steel‑blue tail; females are similar but slightly duller.

Male Description:
Bronze‑green head and back, steel‑blue uppertail coverts, dark steel‑blue tail, and a straight black bill. Underparts are metallic green.

Female Description:
Much like the male but with less iridescence, slightly paler underparts and a slightly shorter bill.

Habitat & Behavior:
Typically found in open woodlands, savanna with scattered trees, plantations, gardens, forest edge and second‑growth. Forages at low and mid levels on flowers, defends feeding patches, and intercepts insects in flight. Tends to remain in its region year‑round.

Conservation Note:
Listed as Least Concern, the Steely‑vented Hummingbird has a broad enough range and occupies adaptable habitats including disturbed and open areas. While habitat modification may affect some local populations, overall numbers remain stable and no major range‑wide threats are evident.

---

Below is the Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei warscewiczi)

Photographed at Hotel Minca, Observatorio de Aves de Minca, and Mountain House-Bird Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia

These individuals belong to the subspecies warscewiczi, which occurs in northern Colombia from La Guajira west to Sucre and south through the Magdalena Valley to Norte de Santander. This population is distinguished by its overall similar appearance to the nominate form but may show slightly greener vent coloration and more bronzy tones on the upperparts, typical of humid lowland foothills and drier secondary habitats.

---

Below is the Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei saucerottei)

Photographed at La Florida – Bosque de Las Aves and Finca La Araucana, Valle del Cauca, Colombia and Hacienda El Bosque, Cali, Colombia

These individuals belong to the subspecies saucerottei, which occurs along the western slope of the Western Andes and through the Cauca Valley of Colombia. Birds in this population show bronzy-green upperparts with a strong blue gloss on the tail and steely vent feathers, adapted to open forest edge, gardens, and second growth between low and mid elevations.

Checkout Anthony’s playlist of this species! Click the top right dropdown to see all the videos.