Sabrewing

The sabrewings are relatively large Neotropical hummingbirds that form the genus Campylopterus. They are species of the understory and edges of forests, mostly in mountains, and often near streams. The female Sabrewing lays its two white eggs in a relatively large cup nest on a low horizontal branch, usually over a stream.

Sabrewing
Gray-breasted Sabrewing Campylopterus largipennis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Subfamily:	Trochilinae
Genus:	Campylopterus Swainson, 1827
Type species
Trochilus largipennis Boddaert, 1783
Species
10, see text

The sabrewings are very large for hummingbirds, typically 12–15 cm long. The black bill is strong and slightly decurved. The shafts of the male's two outermost primary flight feathers are thickened, flattened and bent at an angle to give the distinctive feature which gives the sabrewings their English and scientific names (Greek καμπυλος kampylos, "bent", and πτερον pteron, "wing").

In some species, the male and female plumage is similar, in others, such as the violet sabrewing, the sexes look completely different. In several species, the three outer pairs of the tail feathers are broadly tipped white.

The food of sabrewings is nectar, taken mainly from undergrowth flowers such as Heliconia and bananas.

Taxonomy

The genus Campylopterus was erected by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827.[1] The type species was subsequently designated as the grey-breasted sabrewing.[2] The generic name combines the Ancient Greek kampulos meaning "curved" or "bent" and -pteros meaning "-winged".[3]

The sombre hummingbird and swallow-tailed hummingbird, formerly classified in Campylopterus, have been reclassified by most authorities into their own monotypic genera Aphantochroa and Eupetomena.

The genus contains 10 species:[4]

Image	Name	Common name	Distribution
	Campylopterus largipennis	Gray-breasted sabrewing	Bahia and Minas Gerais in eastern Brazil
	Campylopterus diamantinensis	Diamantina sabrewing	Brazil
	Campylopterus calcirupicola	Outcrop sabrewing	Brazil
	Campylopterus hyperythrus	Rufous-breasted sabrewing	Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela.
	Campylopterus ensipennis	White-tailed sabrewing	northeastern Venezuela and Tobago
	Campylopterus falcatus	Lazuline sabrewing	Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela
	Campylopterus phainopeplus	Santa Marta sabrewing	Colombia.
	Campylopterus hemileucurus	Violet sabrewing	southern Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica and western Panama
	Campylopterus duidae	Buff-breasted sabrewing	Brazil and Venezuela
	Campylopterus villaviscensio	Napo sabrewing	Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

References

1. Swainson, William John (1827). "On several groups and forms in ornithology, not hitherto defined". Zoological Journal. 3: 343-363 [358].
2. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 18.
3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 January 2020.