Photo: Fernando Moraes
The Black Jacobin is a Trochilidae apodiform bird. Also known as the Black-and-white Jacobin. This hummingbird species averages about 12.6 centimeters. The striking contrasting coloring of the tail feathers is displayed when the bird fans out its tail into a white display cut in half by the central black feathers, or when it rapidly opens and closes its tail feathers. The white of the tail continues to the flanks and forms a band over the undertail coverts. Young individuals are mostly black speckled with brown. They have a brown maxillary band, a cinnamon or black tail, with only the outer tail feathers being white.