Description: The Marvelous Spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis) is a unique, remarkable hummingbird named for the male’s unusual tail, formed by just two pairs of feathers.
In popular culture, the Marvelous Spatuletail has been featured in several TV nature shows, including the PBS TV series, the BBC TV series Natural World, and the BBC television series Life Episode “Birds” in 2009. Andrew Mathews first reported this hummingbird to George Loddiges in 1835. It occurs only in northern Peru and has a population of fewer than 1,500 individuals. Marvelous Spatuletail is sexually dimorphic and is the only member of the genus Loddigesia. Males display in leks, competing for the females’ attention. Adult males are particularly scarce, and are partly targeted by local hunters. About 100 acres (40 hectares) of the bird’s habitat near Pomacocha village is now protected as a nature reserve, where it can be seen at feeding stations. Surveying to search for other populations is a priority, as is finding ways to reduce hunting.
Identification: The male marvelous spatuletail is a unique bird in having four feathers in its tail, two long racquet-shaped outer tail feathers that cross each other and end in large violet-blue discs, or “spatules.”. The central pair is slender and straight, while the outer pair is much longer, threadlike, outswept, and tipped with round violet “spatules.” They dance and flutter around the bird during his dashing courtship flight, which he waves and crosses in wild patterns to entice the mate. The female has a shorter, blunter tail and lacks the male’s blue crest and shining green throat.
Distribution: Marvelous spatuletails are found in Northern Peru, in the Utcubamba valley
Habitat: It is found in forest edges, thick scrubland, 6,900–9,500 ft. (2,100–2,900 m)
Size Length: The size is about 37⁄8–57⁄8 in (10–15 cm) in length, and weight: 4.5–5.5 grams.
Status: Due to habitat loss, small population size, and restricted range, this hummingbird is at a high risk of extinction in the wild; hence, it is evaluated as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. To revive the population of Marvelous Spatuletail, more than 30,000 saplings of native bushes and trees were planted in Peru with the help of the American Bird Conservancy.
Read More: Distinctive Stripe-tailed Hummingbird
