Discosura
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Discosura is a genus of South and Central American hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae. The thorntails are sometimes placed in the genus Popelairia (Reichenbach, 1854), leaving Discosura for the racket-tipped thorntail. On the contrary, some have argued for merging this genus into Lophornis, which they overall resemble, except for the highly modified tail-feathers of the males.
Taxonomy
The genus Discosura was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. Bonaparte did not specify a type species but this was designated as the racket-tipped thorntail by George Robert Gray in 1855. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek diskos meaning "plate" with oura meaning "tail".
The genus contains five species.
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wire-crested thorntail Male Female | Discosura popelairii (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1846) | Colombia, Ecuador and Peru | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Black-bellied thorntail Female | Discosura langsdorffi (Temminck, 1821) Two subspecies D. l. langsdorffi (Temminck, 1821)D. l. melanosternon (Gould, 1868) | Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Letitia's thorntail | Discosura letitiae (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1852) | Probably Bolivia (only known from two old specimens of uncertain origin) | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Green thorntail Male Female | Discosura conversii (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1846) | Costa Rica to Ecuador | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Racket-tipped thorntail Male | Discosura longicaudus (Gmelin, JF, 1788) | Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and southern Venezuela | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |