| Green-backed Firecrown Sephanoides sephaniodes Chilean name: Picaflor chico |
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Chile The Green-backed Firecrown is distributed in Chile south of the Atacama desert and adjacent areas of Argentina. They are found in a wide variety of habitats below 2,000 metres. |
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It is the commonest small hummingbird in Chile and looks dark from a distance with an obvious white spot behind the eye. The male has an iridescent red crown patch, hence the "Firecrown" of the English name, which can best be seen head on although you can see it from above in photo 3. I think the reddish tinge on the forehead of the bird in photo 1 probably comes from pollen since it is also on the chin. | |||
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The specific name, so close to but
not quite the same as the generic name, results from a misspelling when
the bird was first described. |
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Photo 4 was taken on Robinson Crusoe Island. Superficially the bird looks something like a female Juan Fernandez Firecrown Sephanoides fernandensis but it is noticeably smaller without the blue overtones and with more widespread spotting on the underparts. | |||
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