Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera)
About the Sword-billed Hummingbird
The sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), also known as the swordbill, is a neotropical species of hummingbird from the Andean regions of South America. It is the only member in the genus Ensifera. Among the largest species of hummingbird, it is characterized by its unusually long bill, being the only bird to have a beak longer than the rest of its body, excluding the tail. It uses its bill to drink nectar from flowers with long corollas and has coevolved with the species Passiflora mixta. While most hummingbirds preen using their bills, the sword-billed hummingbird uses its feet to scratch and preen due to its bill being so long.
A real field recording of the Sword-billed Hummingbird. Press play and focus on the rhythm and pitch of each phrase.
Listen
Our streaming copies are mirrored from the original xeno-canto file and transcoded to 96 kbps mono — a modification, so we note it here; the licence for each recording is named in its credit below.
1 recording on this page · licensed CC BY-SA ×1 · mirrored on this server, free for commercial reuse · recorded in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru · xeno-canto lists 11 recordings for this species in total.
Other birds in this region
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorumrecording
- Amazonian Barred WoodcreeperDendrocolaptes certhiarecording
- Amazonian GrosbeakCyanoloxia rothschildiirecording
- Amazonian Streaked AntwrenMyrmotherula multostriatarecording
- Amazonian TrogonTrogon ramonianusrecording
- American Barn OwlTyto furcatarecording
These are the birds recorded alongside it, not close relatives — the site holds no other member of its genus or family yet.