White-chested Emerald

Sightings
White-chested Emerald is a hummingbird which visits the feeders regularly at the Asa Wright Centre and was seen many times each day. On this occasion, it perched close to the verandah and posed for a photograph.

Species
White-chested Emerald Amazilia brevirostris appears to be a local or seasonal migrant, although its movements are not well understood. It is a bird of cultivation, woodland and forest. It is approximately 9 cm long and weighs only 4.7 g. The black bill is almost straight and fairly long, at nearly 2 cm. It has bright golden-green upperparts, becoming bronze on the tail, white underparts, and its flanks are green, or white spotted with green. The tail is tipped with purple-black. The sexes are similar. There are 3 subspecies of which A. b. chionopectus is endemic to Trinidad.

Status and distribution
It is a species of least concern with an unknown population in its relatively small range of about one million square kilometres. It is found in eastern Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad and far northern Brazil (Roraima). It is resident on Trinidad but absent from Tobago.

References
Asa Wright Centre; BirdLife; Wikipedia; World Bird Names; Kenefick, M., Restall, R., and Hayes, F. (2015) Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 166.

Photograph
1/1250th of a second, f5.6 and ISO 800