Chiribiquete Emerald

The Chiribiquete emerald is 8.5 to 9 cm (3.3 to 3.5 in) long. Males weigh about 3.8 g (0.13 oz) and females about 3.6 g (0.13 oz). The male's bill has a black maxilla and a red mandible with a black tip. The male's upperparts are metallic green, the uppertail coverts bluish green, and the tail dark steel blue with a shallow fork. The sides of its head and neck reflect golden green. Its throat and upper breast are glittering blue-green and the rest of the underparts bright metallic green. The female's bill is black with a red tinge at the base of the mandible. The female is metallic bronze green above and pale gray below. It has a dusky face and a white stripe behind the eye. Most of its tail is bluish green; the outer feathers have gray bases, a dark blue band near the end, and white tips.

The Chiribiquete emerald is restricted to the Serranía de Chiribiquete, a range of flat-topped mountains straddling south central Colombia's Guaviare and Caquetá departments. There it primarily inhabits the open scrub and savanna of the range's middle and upper elevations. It also occurs in the forest at somewhat lower elevations but shuns the lowlands that surround the mesas. In elevation it ranges between 800 and 1,600 m (2,600 and 5,200 ft).

The most important source of nectar for the Chiribiquete emerald is the low shrub Decagonocarpus cornutus. It takes nectar from the flowers of other shrubs and trees as well. It does not appear to defend feeding territories. It captures small insects by sallies through gaps in the vegetation and also gleans them from flowers and foliage.