The metaltails are a group of hummingbirds in the genus Metallura. The species are distributed along the Andes.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus Metallura was introduced by the English ornithologist John Gould in 1847. The type species was subsequently designated as the black metaltail.

The genus contains nine species:

Genus Metallura – Gould, 1847 – nine species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Scaled metaltailMetallura aeneocauda (Gould, 1846) Two subspecies M. a. aeneocaudaM. a. malagaeBolivia and PeruSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Violet-throated metaltailMetallura baroni Salvin, 1893EcuadorSize: Habitat: Diet:EN
Fiery-throated metaltailMetallura eupogon (Cabanis, 1874)PeruSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Perija metaltailMetallura iracunda Wetmore, 1946Colombia and VenezuelaSize: Habitat: Diet:EN
Neblina metaltailMetallura odomae Graves, 1980Ecuador and PeruSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Black metaltailMetallura phoebe (Lesson & Delattre, 1839)PeruSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Coppery metaltailMetallura theresiae Simon, 1902 Two subspecies M. t. theresiaeM. t. parkeriPeruSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Tyrian metaltailMetallura tyrianthina (Loddiges, 1832) Seven subspecies M. t. districta Bangs (1899)M. t. chloropogon Cabanis & Heine (1860)M. t. oreopola Todd (1913)M. t. tyrianthina Loddiges (1832)M. t. quitensis Gould (1861)M. t. septentrionalis Hartert, E. (1899)M. t. smaragdinicollis d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye (1838)Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.Size: Habitat: Diet:LC
Viridian metaltailMetallura williami (Delattre & Bourcier, 1846) Four subspecies M. w. recisa Wetmore, 1970M. w. williami (Delattre & Bourcier), 1846M. w. primolina Bourcier, 1853M. w. atrigularis Salvin, 1893Colombia and EcuadorSize: Habitat: Diet:LC