Birds of Bolivia

○   ←   APODIFORMES: Trochilidae (Hummingbirds)   →
Genus: Metallura (2 species, 9 worldwide)

Genus Metallura, Metaltails, are small hummingbirds with short straight bills. Tail colors vary widely between species and subspecies, making identification sometimes tricky.


Scaled Metaltail
Scaled Metaltail (Metallura aeneocauda) Female
Manu, Peru   		   
Photograph by Bruno Conjeaud   © All Rights Reserved.
The Scaled Metailtail overlaps with the Tyrian Metaltail where the Tyrian has a blue tail (although that blue tail may appear red). The Scaled has a 'bronzy-green' tail (Birds of Peru) and is 25% larger at 13 cm.

Tyrian Metaltail
Tyrian Metaltail (Metallura tyrianthina smaragdinicollis)
Wayqecha, Peru
  A photo of southern Peru blue-tailed race with red tail with just some touches of blue. 		   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Tyrian Metaltail
Tyrian Metaltail (Metallura tyrianthina quitensis) Male
Guango Lodge, Ecuador
  Note red back of tail distinctive for this species. 		   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Tyrian Metaltail
Tyrian Metaltail (Metallura tyrianthina tyrianthina) Female
Manizales, Colombia   		   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.
A small hummingbird with a short bill. The Tyrian Metaltail has a coppery-red tail in most of its range, but in south Peru and Boliva has a blue tail.
Alt. photo

© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
Experimental sites:       Peru       Venezuela       The World       Brazil       Bolivia
Really Experimental sites:       Guyana       Cuba