Green Violet-ear

Key Facts

NAME

• Green Violet-ear  Colibri thalassinus

DESCRIPTION

• Overall: A large green hummingbird, solidly-built with a distinctive, languid shape. Long neck, long wings, relatively short, decurved bill and broad tail.
• Adult Males: Mostly irridescent green with violet ear patch and patch on central breast. Broad, blueish tail with darker band on undertail.
• Immature Males: Similar to females with varying amount of color on throat.
• Females: Duller but otherwise similar to male. Smaller violet patches.

SIZE

• Length: 4.5 – 5 inches (11 – 12.5 cm)
• Bill Length: 0.7 – 0.85 inches (18 – 22 mm)
• Wingspan: 7 inches (17.5 cm)
• Weight: 0.17 – 0.26 oz (5 – 7.5 grams)

RANGE IN USA

• Breeding: N/A
• Migration: N/A
• Wintering: N/A
• Vagrants: casual, almost annual in Texas, with 30 or the USA’s 50 or so records; accidental in central and eastern USA with records as far north as British Columbia and Ontario

WORLD RANGE

MIGRATION

• Rare vagrant to the USA
• Arriving in USA: May
• Departing USA: August

HABITAT

• Breeding: most USA records are from hummingbird feeders
• Wintering: N/A

ELEVATION

NESTING

• Nest: N/A
• Situation: N/A
• Eggs: N/A
• Incubation: N/A

FOOD

VOICE

• Song: a series of dry, metallic chips, repeated irregularly
• Call: a dry “tick”, usually a series of several notes
• Click here to listen

SUBSPECIES

• Colibri thalassinus thalassinus (Northern)
  Open mountain slopes of S Mexico to central Nicaragua
• Colibri thalassinus cyanotus (Andean)
  Mountains of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador
• Colibri thalassinus crissalis (Andean)
  Andes of Peru, Bolivia and extreme NW Argentina
• Colibri thalassinus cabanidis (Costa Rican)
  Highlands of Costa Rica and W Panama

SIMILAR SPECIES

• N/A

IDENTIFICATION PITFALLS

• N/A

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