White-tailed emerald

The white-tailed emerald (Microchera chionura) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is native to the Talamancan montane forests. With a weight under 3 grams, this is one of the smallest birds in existence.[2]

White-tailed emerald
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Microchera
Species:
M. chionura
Binomial name
Microchera chionura
(Gould, 1851)

The white-tailed emerald was formerly placed with the coppery-headed emerald in the genus Elvira. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that these two species were closely related to the snowcap in the monospecific genus Microchera.[3] The three species were therefore placed together in Microchera which has priority.[4]

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Elvira chionura". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc. (1983), ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9
  3. McGuire, J.; Witt, C.; Remsen, J.V.; Corl, A.; Rabosky, D.; Altshuler, D.; Dudley, R. (2014). "Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds". Current Biology. 24 (8): 910–916. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.016.
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 January 2020.


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