Eupherusa eximia (Delattre, 1843)

Common Name and Size

Eupherusa eximia, commonly called the stripe-tailed hummingbird, is 9 to 10.5 cm (3.5 to 4.1 in) long and weighs an average of 4–4.5 g (0.14–0.16 oz).

Bill Morphology

All subspecies of both sexes have a straight black bill.

Nominate Male Upperparts

The nominate male has bright metallic grass green upperparts, which are more bronzy on the uppertail coverts. Cinnamon rufous secondaries form a visible patch on the folded wing.

Nominate Male Tail Pattern

Its three inner pairs of tail feathers are dark bronze green; the outer two pairs have black outer webs and white inner webs with black tips, which gives the species its English common name.

Nominate Male Underparts

The nominate male's underparts are bright metallic grass green with white undertail coverts.

Nominate Female Plumage

The female also has grass green upperparts, while its underparts are brownish gray with metallic green spots on the sides.

Nominate Female Tail Pattern

Its tail has a similar pattern to the male's, with the addition of dusky to black tips on the inner feathers.

E. e. nelsoni Male Traits

Males of the subspecies E. e. nelsoni are larger than the nominate subspecies. Their underparts are more yellowish green, and the black tips of their outer tail feathers are less sharply defined.

E. e. egregia Male Traits

Males of E. e. egregia are also larger than the nominate. On E. e. egregia males, black on the outer web of the two outermost pairs of tail feathers is limited to the tip.

E. e. egregia Female Traits

For female E. e. egregia, the outermost pair of tail feathers is usually entirely white.

E. e. nelsoni Distribution

Regarding distribution and habitat, subspecies E. e. nelsoni is the northernmost subspecies of the stripe-tailed hummingbird, found in the eastern Mexican states of Veracruz and Oaxaca.

Nominate Subspecies Distribution

The nominate E. e. eximia ranges from Chiapas in extreme eastern Mexico south through southern Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador into central Nicaragua. Both E. e. nelsoni and the nominate subspecies are limited to the Caribbean slope of the highlands.

E. e. egregia Distribution

Subspecies E. e. egregia is found on both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes in Costa Rica and western Panama.

Habitat Preferences

The stripe-tailed hummingbird inhabits the edges and interior of humid montane, semi-deciduous, and pine-oak forest, and also occurs in plantations.

Elevational Range

Its elevational range is from near sea level to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Mexico, from 300 to 1,800 m (980 to 5,900 ft) in Honduras, and between 300 and 2,450 m (980 and 8,000 ft) in Costa Rica.