Buff-tailed Sicklebill

As its name implies, the most distinctive characteristics of the Buff-tipped Sicklebill are its extreme bill shape and pale cinnamon-buff outer tail feathers with white tips. The sexes are very similar, but young birds can easily be distinguished from adults by pale feather edges on the wings and smaller patches of blue iridescence at the nape. The two subspecies are also very similar, but subsp. gracilis has a less heavily streaked belly and shorter bill than the nominate. 

Sicklebills have relatively short wings for such large hummingbirds, which reduces their flight efficiency and explains their tendency to perch rather than hover when feeding at flowers. Their long tails bob almost constantly, even at rest. In the narrow zone of overlap between the two sicklebill species, the Buff-tailed seems to prefer more open and disturbed habitats than the Whitetipped Sicklebill. Its nest is similar to that of the White-tipped, comprising a loosely woven cup secured with spider silk to the underside of a large leaf.

DISTRIBUTION Subsp. condamini occurs in the eastern Andes of southeastern Colombia, Ecuador, and northern Peru; subsp. gracilis occurs in the eastern Andes of Peru and northwestern Bolivia

HABITAT Undergrowth, wooded ravines, and stream sides in humid forest, swampy forest, bamboo groves, edges, overgrown clearings, plantations; 600–10,850 ft (180–3,300 m)

SIZE Length: 51⁄8–57⁄8 in (13–15 cm).

Weight: 8–12.5 g

STATUS Least Concern