White-bellied Emerald (Chlorestes candida)

IDENTIFICATION – The White-bellied Emerald (Chlorestes candida) resembles the Azure-crowned Hummingbird (Saucerottia cyanocephala) but it is smaller and has all white underparts. It has a dark green head and shining green upper parts.

The shining blue tail has a slight fork. The short, straight bill is black, with pink at the base of the lower mandible. The tail feathers are green with a dark band across their tips. The female is similar to the male but has mottling on the sides of the throat and gray tips to the tail feathers. The white-bellied Emerald is mainly found in South American countries.

DIET – The White-bellied Emerald feeds at all levels on the nectar of a wide range of plants, including Inga, Miconia, Psychotria, and Heliconia, as well as on small insects in herbs, shrubs, and epiphytes. They normally catch the insects in flight, from spider webs, or snatched from branches.

NEST – It builds a small cup-like nest from soft plant material. Also, visit the other hummingbird’s nest in search of sugar water. The clutch contains two white eggs, which the female incubates alone. However, males defend the territory. The baby bird leaves the nest within two weeks perhaps due to the smaller space in the nest.

DISTRIBUTION Subsp. candida occurs in southeastern Mexico and southern Guatemala; subsp. genini occurs from eastern to southern Mexico; subsp. pacifica ranges from southeastern Mexico to Belize, northern Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua

HABITAT – Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical dry forest, riverbanks, clearings, plantations; 1,000–4,900 ft (300–1,500 m)

SIZE LENGTH – The average size and length are 31⁄8–43⁄8 in (8–11 cm).

WEIGHT – The average weight is about 3–4 g

STATUS The current global population appears to be declining as a result of deforestation, but the species is still regarded as very common and least concerned.

FAMILY – This is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae

SUBSPECIES – Subsp. genini and pacifica have much longer bills than the nominate, and subsp. pacifica also has longer wings.