Garden Emerald

The taxonomy is highly complex and it often includes C. canivetii, C. auriceps, C. forficatus, C. assimilis, C. gibsoni and C. melanorhynchus from north-western South America and Central America as subspecies.

The Garden Emerald is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Garden Emerald (Chlorostilbon assimilis) is a small hummingbird that is an endemic resident breeder in Costa Rica and western Panama. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Blue-tailed Emerald. This is a species of open habitats, including bushy savanna, clearings, cultivation, and gardens. It can be found in the Pacific lowlands and hills, locally up to an elevation of 1500 m. More

The Garden Emerald has a dry chit call, and the males song is a thin tsippy tsee tsee. Breeding / Nesting: Breeding males perch on open branches and may give a dive display. The nest is a neat cup of plant fibres decorated on the outside with bark fragments. The two white eggs are incubated by the female alone. More

The Garden Emerald is 8 cm long and weighs 2.6 g. The male has bronze-green upperparts, brilliant green underparts, white thighs and a deeply forked tail. The female has grey underparts, a white stripe behind the eye and dusky ear patches. She has white tips to her tail, which lacks the deep fork of the male. Young birds resemble the adult female, but have some buff feather tips. More