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  Profile

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  In flight

Hummingbirds

Marvelous Spatuletail

Loddigesia mirabilis

• mythic
• 1109 km/h
• Near Threatened

A hummingbird so strange it feels made up, with tail feathers ending in floating spatulas.

Population

1,000–2,499 mature individuals (BirdLife/IUCN 2023 assessment, poor data quality), decreasing (suspected decline of 1–9% over 10 years)

Habitat

Andean forest edge, secondary growth, and montane scrub with thorny, impenetrable Rubus thickets admixed with Alnus trees, at 2,100–2,900 m elevation (occasionally recorded 1,700–3,700 m)

Fun fact

Adult males possess two outer tail feathers on bare, wire-like shafts that cross each other and end in oversized purplish-black racquet ("spatule") tips, which they use in a wing-buzzing lek display — producing a repeated high-pitched metallic note — to court females.

Range

Endemic to a small area of northern Peru, restricted to the eastern slopes of the Río Utcubamba valley (Amazonas region) plus a locality in San Martín region; extent of occurrence ~12,600 km², area of occupancy ~4,300 km² (BirdLife DataZone)

Diet

Nectar obtained via trap-lining between flowering plants, most often the red-flowered lily Bomarea formosissima and at least five other species; supplemented with small arthropods as is typical for hummingbirds

Size

0.16 m