Esmeraldas Woodstar

Meet one of the tiniest Hummingbirds on Earth-- the Esmeraldas Woodstar. These itty bitty birds are only a few centimeters long!

These Hummingbirds aren't just small, they are pretty rare too. They are found in only a tiny portion of coastal Ecuador, where they live in tropical lowland forests.

Until very recently, no one knew for sure what female Esmeraldas Woodstar looked like. Males are a shiny green color, with white underparts and a purple throat. Females were a bit of a mystery until the very first specimen was discovered in 2009. For a long time they were confused with female Little Woodstars, but now we know the two are different. The female Esmeraldas Woodstars are a duller green than the males, with buff undersides and no purple on the throat.

IUCN Status : Endangered
Location : Ecuador
Size : Body length around 2in
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Apodiformes
Family : Trochilidae -- Genus : Chaetocercus -- Species : C. berlepschi
Image : Ana Agreda

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