Photo: Antonio Amaral
The Streamertail is a Trochilidae apodiform bird. Due to habitat loss, it is classified as near-threatened (source: BirdLife International). It measures between 14 and 16 centimeters in length and weighs between 5.3 and 9 grams (Hinkelmann, 2013), being the largest hummingbird in the Atlantic Forest and one of the largest in the world. Upper parts are greenish-brown; dark head; orange throat and neck with a dark stripe in the middle; orange face, with a wide black postocular stripe and a narrow partridge-striped superciliary band, being lighter in the male; lower parts are partridge-colored, widely streaked with black, especially the chest. Black wings; broad tail, not elongated, with central rectrices black and lateral ones light-brown. Strong, wide-based beak, straight and ending in a hook in the male and gently curved in the female, which can be explained by differences in feeding habits; yellow lower mandible and black upper mandible. The female and immatures have a smaller spot on the throat.