Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus)
About the Red-tailed Comet
The red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus) is a medium-sized hummingbird belonging to tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae, the "coquettes". It is found in Argentina and Bolivia and possibly Chile and Peru. The red-tailed comet was formally described in 1812 by the English naturalist George Shaw under the binomial name Trochilus sparganurus. The type locality is Bolivia. Some early twentieth century authors placed it in genus Lesbia. The red-tailed comet is now the only species in genus Sappho that was introduced in 1849 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. The genus name refers to Sappho, an ancient Greek poet of Lesbos. The specific epithet sparganurus combines the Ancient Greek σπαργανόω/spargaō meaning 'to wrap' and ουρά/oura meaning 'tail'.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 52 recordings for this species: 20 CC BY-NC-SA · 10 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Other birds you can hear here
- American Barn OwlTyto furcatarecording
- American KestrelFalco sparveriusrecording
- Andean FlickerColaptes rupicolarecording
- Andean GullChroicocephalus serranusrecording
- Ash-breasted Sierra FinchGeospizopsis plebejusrecording
- Baird's SandpiperCalidris bairdiirecording
These are the birds recorded alongside it, not close relatives — the site holds no other member of its genus or family yet.