Speckled Hummingbird Adelomyia melanogenys Colibri- Pechipunteado

Speckled Hummingbird Adelomyia melanogenys
Colombian name: Colibrí Pechipunteado

Speckled Hummingbird. Rio Blanco, Caldas, Colombia, April 2012 - click for larger image

Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

The Speckled Hummingbird is distributed from Venezuela through the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia and into north-western Argentina. See the map at Birdlife International. It is found in humid forest and forest borders at between 1,000 and 2,500 metres but is commonest at about 2,000 metres.

It has a short, straight bill and is bronzy green above. It has blackish cheeks and a buffy streak behind the eye. Below is buffy white and the tail has buffy tips. There are 7 sub-species and the first 4 photos from the central Andes of Colombia is A. m. cervina which has fine brown spots on the throat and richer buff underparts than the other sub-species. Photos 5 to 8 from the eastern slope of the Andes in Ecuador and Peru are of the nominate sub-species.

It feeds on nectar often by perching or clinging as well as hovering and also feeds on insects.

I originally mis-identified this bird but was relieved to note that Steve Hilty says in Birds of Colombia: "Duller and browner than most hummingbirds and often mistaken for a female or immature."

Its call is a rapid and repeated dit-dit.

Speckled Hummingbird. Aguas Verdes, San Martin, Peru, October 2018 - click for larger image

Speckled Hummingbird. Abra Patricia, Peru, October 2018 - click for larger image

Speckled Hummingbird. Cabanas San Isidro, Ecuador, November 2019 - click for larger image

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