Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is about 9 cm (3.5 in) long. Both sexes have a black bill with a red base to the mandible. The adult male has bronze-green upperparts and a chestnut tail. Its throat and upper breast are glittering green, the belly chestnut, and the undertail coverts chestnut with greenish edges. The female is similar but with a slightly paler belly and white bars near the end of some throat feathers. Immatures are similar to the female with rufous edges on the feathers of the neck and rump.

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird appears to be restricted to the dryer parts of the Magdalena Valley of Colombia, with a core known range in the Chicamocha, Suárez and Chucurí River valleys. As of 2019 it was known from at least 14 sites. However, it is not regularly documented at most of them, perhaps because of unknown seasonal movements. Most records are from arid brushy canyons with a few from the lower edges of humid montane forest. Most records are from elevations between 500 and 1,500 m (1,600 and 4,900 ft) but some extend to between 340 and 2,200 m (1,100 and 7,200 ft) and one is at 120 m (390 ft).

Details are lacking about the chestnut-bellied hummingbird's feeding technique and diet, but it is known to take nectar from Salvia and Trichanthera. It also feeds on small arthropods.