Streamertail
Appearance
Streamertail | |
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adult male | |
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Genus: | Trochilus Linnaeus, 1758
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Species | |
1-2, see text |
The streamertails are hummingbirds in the genus Trochilus that is endemic to Jamaica. It is the type genus of the Trochilidae family. Today most authorities consider the two taxa in this genus as separate species, but some (e.g. AOU) continue to treat them as conspecific, in which case scitulus is a subspecies of T. polytmus. A wide range of common names apply to this combined species, including green-and-black streamertail, Jamaican streamertail or simply streamertail. The name streamertail is a reference to the greatly elongated rectrices of the males.
Species
- Red-billed streamertail (Trochilus polytmus)
- Black-billed streamertail (Trochilus scitulus)
References
- Schuchmann, K. L. (1999). Genus Trochilus. Pp. 572 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, K. eds. (1999). Handbook of the Birds of the World.. Vol. 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-25-3