Ruby-topaz Hummingbird

Quick Facts

  • Scientific Name: Chrysolampis mosquitus
  • Spanish Name: Colibrí topacio
  • Family: Trochilidae
  • Known Nicknames: Ruby-topaz, Ruby Hummingbird
  • Average Length: 8–9.5 cm / 3.1–3.7 in
  • Average Weight: 2.5–4.5 g / 0.09–0.16 oz
  • Wingspan: 11–13 cm / 4.3–5.1 in
  • Key Feature: Iridescent ruby-red crown and throat (male) with golden-green back and forked tail
  • Primary Diet: Nectarivore (primarily nectar, also small insects)
  • Range: Northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil) to Trinidad and Tobago
  • Habitat: Open woodlands, savannas, scrub, gardens, and forest edges
  • Social Structure: Solitary (except during courtship)
  • Nesting/Breeding: Small cup-shaped nest on a tree branch, often near water
  • Conservation Status: Least Concern (LC)
  • Population Trend: Stable

The Ruby-topaz Hummingbird (*Chrysolampis mosquitus*) is a dazzling jewel of the Neotropics, found from Panama to northern South America, where males boast a fiery, iridescent ruby-red crown and throat that flare into a brilliant golden-orange nape, contrasting sharply with their bronzy-green back and forked, dark tail. Females are more subdued, with a pale gray belly and green upperparts, but both sexes share a distinctive, slightly decurved black bill. This species is exceptionally agile and aggressive for its tiny size (just 8–9 cm long), often dominating flower patches and feeders with rapid, direct flight, and it performs a remarkable aerial display during courtship, hovering and diving while its ruby throat flashes like a living flame.

Fun Facts

Despite its name, the ruby-topaz hummingbird's gorget isn't always ruby red; depending on the light, it can flash a shocking neon orange or even a deep, almost blackish-crimson. Males perform a bizarre, high-speed "pendulum" display, swinging back and forth in a tight arc like a living metronome to impress females. They are also fiercely territorial, often chasing away birds many times their size, including hawks, from their chosen flower patches. As one of the few hummingbirds that regularly eats small insects and spiders, they will even steal prey from spider webs, a behavior known as kleptoparasitism.

Habitats & Distribution

The Ruby-topaz Hummingbird inhabits a variety of open and semi-open environments, including dry scrublands, savannas, forest edges, coastal dunes, and gardens. It avoids dense, humid rainforest interiors and is most common in arid and semi-arid regions, often near flowering trees and shrubs that provide nectar. Its geographical range spans northern South America, from Colombia and Venezuela through the Guianas, and east across much of northern and central Brazil. It is also found on Trinidad and Tobago, as well as on the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire. The species is generally resident but may undertake local movements in response to flowering seasons.

Behaviours & Reproduction

The ruby-topaz hummingbird is solitary outside of breeding, with males defending feeding territories rather than forming pair bonds. Courtship involves the male performing a U-shaped dive display, producing a loud, buzzing sound with his tail feathers to attract a female perched below. After mating, the female alone builds a tiny cup nest of plant down and spider silk, often on a horizontal branch, and incubates two white eggs for about 14–16 days. She feeds the chicks regurgitated nectar and small arthropods, and they fledge in 20–22 days. A unique reproductive strategy is the female’s ability to lay a replacement clutch rapidly if the first is lost, maximizing success in brief tropical breeding seasons. There is no further male involvement, and the female may raise multiple broods per season.

Diet

The Ruby-topaz Hummingbird primarily sustains itself on nectar from a variety of brightly colored, tubular flowers, favoring species such as those in the genera *Erythrina*, *Inga*, and *Cordia*. It uses its specialized, long, slightly curved bill to extract nectar while hovering in place, and its forked tongue rapidly laps up the sugary liquid. Interestingly, this bird does not survive on nectar alone; it also consumes small insects and spiders, which it often catches in mid-air or gleans from leaves and bark to obtain essential proteins, fats, and minerals. A unique dietary behavior is its ability to enter a state of torpor on cold nights, drastically slowing its metabolism to conserve energy when food is scarce. Additionally, the Ruby-topaz is known to defend rich nectar sources aggressively, chasing away other hummingbirds and even larger insects from its feeding territories.

Colors

The male Ruby-topaz Hummingbird displays a brilliant ruby-red crown and throat that flash iridescently, contrasting with a metallic golden-olive back and a deep, velvety black tail. Its underparts are a rich cinnamon-buff, while the female is duller with a grayish-white belly, green upperparts, and white-tipped tail feathers. The male’s unique, fiery head coloring lacks the long forked tail of similar species, and neither sex has camouflage adaptations, relying instead on rapid flight for evasion.