Cuban Emerald (Chlorostilbon ricordii)
Male Cuban Emerald, Santo Tomás, Zapata Swamp, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view Cuba
February 2005

Despite the name, the Cuban Emerald is distributed in the Bahamas as well as in Cuba. It is found in a variety of habitats from forest to gardens.

The male, seen here in photos 1 and 3, has a short bill with a black upper mandible and a red lower mandible with a black tip. Upperparts are dark green while underparts are shiny green with a hint of metallic blue. The undertail coverts are white and the tail is deeply forked. The female, seen in photo 2, is similar but the underparts are brownish-grey with green flanks and the tail is slightly less forked. Both sexes have a whitish spot behind the eye..

Female Cuban Emerald, Soplillar, Zapata Swamp, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view Identification should not be a great problem since the only other hummingbird in Cuba, apart from the occasional Ruby-throated Hummingbird in transit, is the tiny Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga helenae.

They feed on nectar and insects.

Male Cuban Emerald, La Güira, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view
Previous Page Back to Index Next Page
If you do not see a menu on the left, you may have arrived at this page from another site. Please click Home to get to my main page. Fatbirder's Top 1000 Birding Websites