Swallow-Tailed Hummingbird

A large, boldly marked hummingbird of open country, gardens and forest edges across South America, easily identified by its deeply forked, glossy blue-black tail and metallic green body. It is a conspicuous and often aggressive feeder, defending flowering shrubs and trees against other hummingbirds with fast diving chases, and readily visits gardens with tubular flowers. Its assertive, noisy behaviour around flowering plants makes it one of the easier hummingbirds to spot at any time of year within its range.