Red-tailed comet

Red-tailed comet
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Genus:	Sappho; Reichenbach, 1849
Species:	S. sparganurus
Binomial name
	Sappho sparganurus; (Shaw, 1812)
	Distribution map
Synonyms
	Trochilus sparganurus (protonym); Sappho sparganura

The red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus) is a medium-sized hummingbird belonging to the family Trochilidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Sappho.

Taxonomy

The red-tailed comet was formally described in 1812 by the English naturalist George Shaw under the binomial name Trochilus sparganurus.[2] The type locality is Bolivia.[3] The red-tailed comet is now the only species placed in the genus Sappho that was introduced in 1849 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.[4][5] The genus name refers to Sappho, an ancient Greek poet of Lesbos. The species name sparganus combines the Ancient Greek σπαργανόω/spargaō meaning "to wrap" and ουρά/oura meaning "tail".

Two subspecies are recognised:[5]

S. s. sparganurus (Shaw, 1812) – north, central Bolivia
S. s. sapho (Lesson, R, 1828) – south Bolivia, north, west Argentina and east-central Chile

In at least part of its range it is known in the local Quechua language as Q'ori Kenti ("golden hummingbird"). It is called the picaflor cometa in Spanish.

Description

The red-tailed comet is one of the largest hummingbirds, and males reaching a length of 22 cm, females up to 15 cm. The plumage of males is largely green, with a shining gorget. The head is green, while the back and rump are reddish violet. The male has a deeply forked, spectacular, long, iridescent, golden-reddish tail, longer than the length of the body, while the female has a shorter reddish-bronze tail.[6][2][7] The species has a hoarse chattery call.[8]

Distribution and habitat

This species can be found in the central Andes of Bolivia and Argentina, in Chile and in Peru.[1][9]

Common to frequent in the woodlands and scrub typical of the dry Interandean valles extended up into Polylepis forests, and into the shrubby transition zones to high elevation puna or the moister cloud forests. These hummingbirds live in arid scrub with cacti and Prosopis trees and in deciduous forests with Alnus and Podocarpus.[8] It is frequently found around human habitation in agricultural areas, cities and towns.

Gallery

Illustration from Kunstformen der Natur (1904)
Sappho sparganurus. Museum specimen
Museum specimen
Museum specimen
A male Red-tailed Comet in Cordoba, Argentina.

References

BirdLife International (2012). "Sappho sparganura". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url
Shaw, George (1812). General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Volume 8, Part 1. London: Kearsley et al. p. 291, Plate 39.
Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 116.
Reichenbach, Ludwig (1849). Avium Systema Naturale (in German). Dresden and Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister. Plate XL.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. 25. London: Charles Knight and Co. 1863. p. 281. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
Schulenberg, Thomas S.; Jaramillo, Alvaro (2015). Schulenberg, T. S. (ed.). "Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus)". Neotropical Birds Online. Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
"Red-tailed Comet Sappho sparganurus (Shaw, 1812)". Xeno-canto. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
Bird Life International (2016). "Red-tailed Comet Sappho sparganurus". Retrieved 10 November 2016.