Black-bellied thorntail
The black-bellied thorntail is a slow flying species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae.
It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest at about a 100-300m altitude. It stays high in the forest which explains the lack of scientific information on it. The male will attract the female by fanning out their tail and zooming side-to-side with a loud cracking sound. Generally they'd only make a quick “tsip” or “chip” noise when feeding.
This species has a knack for stealing nectar from flowers in other hummingbird territories. Alongside nectar from flowering plants it will hunt for arthropods.Subspecies
- D. l. melanosternon – S Venezuela and SE Colombia S to E Ecuador, E Peru and W Brazil.
- D. l. langsdorffi – coast of E Brazil.
