The Lazuline Sabrewing (Campylopterus falcatus) is a South American hummingbird found in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, where it inhabits subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.
Description
It belongs to the Sabrewings family – named for their long, sabre-like outermost primary flight feathers, which are thickened, flattened and bent at an angle. Their black, strong bill is slightly down-curved.
The sabrewings are very large compared to other hummingbirds that typically measure 4.7 – 6 inches or 12-15 cm in length.
Hummingbird Resources
- Hummingbird Information
- Hummingbird Amazing Facts
- Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden
- Hummingbird Species
- Feeding Hummingbirds
Nesting / Breeding
During the breeding seasons, males most often gather in leks (competitive mating display) – where they sing to attract females. The lek may consist of up to 10 males, but most often, they are about 4 to 6 of them.
The female is responsible for building the relatively large cup-shaped nest out of green moss and line it with other soft plant fibers, and strengthen the structure with spider webbing. The nest is typically found on a low, skinny horizontal perch over a ravine or water. The average clutch consists of two white eggs, which she incubates alone.
Diet / Feeding
They primarily feed on the nectar taken from a variety of small flowers.They favor heliconia and banana flowers – and are often seen foraging in banana plantations. They may also visit certain flowers that open during the night for bats, such as those of Vriesia nephrolepis.
They also take some small insects – an important source of protein, particularly needed during the breeding season.
Calls / Vocalizations
While feeding, they make sharp twitter or “chip’ sounds Its call is a sharp twitter. The male’s song is a high-pitched piercing cheep tsew cheep tik-tik tsew.
