Bronze-tailed plumeleteer

Species of hummingbird

The bronze tailed plumeleteer (Chalybura urochrysia) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Most taxonomic systems assign three subspecies to the bronze tailed plumeleteer, the nominate C. u. urochrysia, C. u. melanorrhoa, and C. u. isaurae. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) adds C. u. intermedia, which the others treat as a subspecies of the white vented plumeleteer (C. buffonii). The bronze tailed and white vented plumeleteers are the only species in their genus. (Note that the map includes the southwestern Ecuador range of the intermedia subspecies of white vented plumeleteer.)

Subspecies C. u. melanorrhoa of bronze tailed plumeleteer is known to make local seasonal movements, probably to find flowering plants. Movements of the other two subspecies, if any, are not known.

The bronze tailed plumeleteer mostly forages for nectar from the understory to the mid strata, but will visit epiphytes in the sub canopy. It especially favors Heliconia and aggressively defends patches of them and other rich nectar sources. It has also been documented to feed on Renealmia, Costus, Psychotria, Malvaviscus, Acanthaceae, Inga, and others. In addition to nectar, it captures small arthropods mainly by hawking from a perch but also by gleaning from foliage.

The bronze tailed plumeleteer breeds in Costa Rica between December and June, though mostly from February to April. In Colombia, it also appears to breed between February and April. Its nest is best known from Costa Rica; there it makes a deep cup nest of pale plant down and fibers bound with spiderweb and covered on the outside with moss and some lichen. It typically places it in a shrub about above the ground, often near a stream or trail.

What is thought to be the bronze tailed plumeleteer's song is "a soft, nasal, scratchy, trilled phrase, ter twee ee ee ee ee ter twee ee ee ". It makes "a drawn out descending chattering trill" when chasing and also "loud chup and chip notes".

The International Union for Conservation of Nature follows HBW taxonomy and so includes the intermedia subspecies of white vented plumeleteer with this species. It has assessed the bronze tailed plumeleteer as being of Least Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. Much of its habitat has been destroyed in Central America but it is still locally common at many sites.