Racket-tailed coquette
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Discosura longicaudus

The racket-tailed coquette (Discosura longicaudus ; sometimes Discosura longicauda ) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae native to northern South America.

Appearance

The species weighs about 3.4 grams (0.12 oz) and is sexually dimorphic. The male is around 10.2 centimetres (4.0 in) long and has a distinctive brilliant green head and throat with a copper-coloured abdomen. The dark purple-brown tail is 5.1 centimetres (2.0 in) long, and forked, with two very long prongs, ending with a pair of round paddle- ("racket") shaped feathers. The female is shorter with a length of 6.9 centimetres (2.7 in). It has duller green upperparts and breast, black throat bordered by white and a white belly. Its tail is grey tipped with white, and lacks "rackets".

Distribution

Geography

Continents
Biogeographical realms

The racket-tailed coquette has a wide distribution range; it is found in northern Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and southern Venezuela. It is also found on the eastern tip of Brazil Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, as well as riparian forests and scrubby savannahs.

Racket-tailed coquette habitat map
Racket-tailed coquette habitat map
Racket-tailed coquette
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Habits and Lifestyle

Racket-tailed coquettes typically gather in the canopy of hapaxanth trees with other hummingbirds and steal other larger hummingbirds' nectar. They are consequently chased by the larger birds.

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They build their cup-sized nests out of soft plants and down 3–6 metres (9.8–19.7 ft) up a tree. Females usually have a clutch of two eggs, which are incubated for 13–14 days.

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Lifestyle
Seasonal behavior
Bird's call

References

1. Racket-tailed coquette Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racket-tailed_coquette
2. Racket-tailed coquette on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22687285/93146569
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/705741

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