Wedge-tailed Sabrewing
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Least Concern 4
Where and when to see the Wedge-tailed Sabrewing
DraftOn the Yucatán Peninsula
It lives in the understorey and edges of semi-deciduous and evergreen forest, from sea level to low hills. Listen for its long, bubbling song from a shady thicket, then look for the singer on a bare twig.
Where it’s reported most
- Ruta de los CenotesPuerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
- MuyilFelipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo
- Becán and XpujilCalakmul, Campeche
- Uxuxubi Al NaturalPlaya del Carmen, Quintana Roo
When
All year · most reports Nov–Mar
Most reports from November to March.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 100%
- February: 95%
- March: 73%
- April: 64%
- May: 73%
- June: 84%
- July: 85%
- August: 61%
- September: 63%
- October: 58%
- November: 79%
- December: 99%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2026 · Base map: Natural Earth
Works the understory and edges of semi-evergreen selva, visiting heliconias and other flowers. Males gather in loose groups and sing long, varied songs from low perches.
- Identification
- A fairly large, plain hummingbird with a straight, stout bill, metallic green upperparts, grey underparts and a white spot behind the eye. Males have a violet crown; females a duller blue crown and a cinnamon wash below.
- Voice
- A loud, long, gurgling warble mixed with squeaky chips, sung for hours from bare twigs in the understorey.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftSabre and wedge
Its English name describes the male: the shafts of the outer wing feathers are thickened, the “sabre” the group is named for, and the long, graduated tail is wedge-shaped. The female’s tail is shorter and less graduated. 1
Singing like a fandango
Its Mexican name, fandanguero, comes from its singing: people say it sings all day long, like folks at a fandango. 2
A hummingbird that sings
Its song is the most complex of any hummingbird’s, comparable with a songbird’s. 2,3
Each lek its own tune
Males sing together in groups called leks. Each lek has its own song, sometimes with variants inside the group, and young males must learn it to join. 2
Sources
- Neotropical Birds: Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, Appearance (Cornell Lab) (opens in a new tab)
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): Wedge-tailed Sabrewing (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Wedge-tailed sabrewing (opens in a new tab)
- IUCN Red List category, via GBIF: Pampa curvipennis (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 6,213 records from 2015–2026 from eBird, iNaturalist, and others, via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), in 0.1° squares (about 10 km). eBird: doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb.
Months: the species’ records ÷ all bird records that month, scaled to the busiest month. It allows for birding effort; it is not the chance of seeing it. A blank square: few or no reports, not necessarily absent.
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