Coppery Emerald

Common name: Coppery Emerald
Scientific name: Chlorostilbon russatus
Clades: Trochilini - Emeralds

The Coppery Emerald is 8 to 8.5 cm (3.1 to 3.3 in) long and weighs 3.2 to 3.6 grams (0.11 to 0.12 oz).

The Coppery Emerald has a rich coppery gloss on its tail-coverts and wings that distinguish it from its congeners. In the male, there is a short, straight, black bill; the forehead, crown, and upperparts are all golden green; the uppertail coverts are coppery green; the underparts are shimmering golden green; the tail is slightly forked, golden coppery. A female has a bill similar to a male, coppery green forehead, crown, and uppertail coverts; smokey gray underparts with some green on flanks; and a slightly forked tail, greenish copper, with a coppery purple subterminal band. The immature is similar to an adult female but has buffy fringes on its head feathers.

Distribution N Colombia (lower Magdalena Valley and Santa Marta region) and Sierra de Perijá (N Colombia–NW Venezuela border).