Fiery Topaz (Topaza pyra)
About the Fiery Topaz
The fiery topaz (Topaza pyra) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It has brilliant iridescent plumage and resides in northern South America, where it consumes nectar and insects. The genus Topaza and its sister genus Florisuga form the topazes group, which together with the hermits represent the most ancient branch within the family Trochilidae. The Topazes group contains some of the largest hummingbirds in the family, adult males measuring up to 23 cm and weighing up to 12 g. Topazes as a group are estimated to have diverged as a separate lineage from all other hummingbirds around 21.5 Ma, whereas the most recent common ancestor of Topaza and Florisuga lived approximately 19 Ma.
A real field recording of the Fiery Topaz. Press play and focus on the rhythm and pitch of each phrase.
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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 Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela · xeno-canto lists 55 recordings for this species in total.