Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer

Overview

The bronze-tailed plumeleteer (Chalybura urochrysia) is a medium-sized hummingbird — at 10.5–12 cm, large for a lowland forest species — with metallic green upperparts and the distinctive bronze-green tail that names it. Males are iridescent from crown to rump; females are grayer below with white-tipped outer tail feathers. The species is a specialist of humid forest interiors and edges from Nicaragua to Ecuador, and is classified under CITES Appendix II along with all hummingbirds.

It forages aggressively for nectar, particularly from Heliconia, Costus, and other long-tubular flowers at understory level. Males hold and defend nectar territories with direct, hovering interceptions of rival hummingbirds — behavior easy to watch once you locate an active flower patch.

Why Tortuguero

The park’s intact understory is one of the few remaining lowland Caribbean forest sites in Costa Rica where this species is reliably encountered. Chalybura urochrysia needs a continuous understory with sufficient Heliconia density to hold territories; forest fragmentation quickly eliminates it. Tortuguero’s large forested interior and the shaded fringe of the canal trail system provide both the flower density and the canopy cover the species depends on. It also occupies banana plantation margins, but its preference is native forest edge.

How to see them (honestly)

• Walk the trail system (El Gavilán Trail, or the canal boardwalk segments) slowly in early morning; listen for the rapid wingbeat hum at understory level.
• Find a clump of flowering Heliconia and wait — territorial males will return within minutes.
• Males are conspicuous when defending flowers; females are quieter and easily missed at mid-canopy.
• Distinct from other lowland hummingbirds by size, bronze tail, and aggressive territorial behavior.

Status note

Least Concern globally, though the population trend is decreasing — a pattern common across Chalybura and many understory hummingbirds tied to intact lowland forest. Within Tortuguero the species is locally common; the conservation concern lies in forest patches outside the park where canopy thinning quickly degrades understory flower resources.