Green Violet-ear

Overview
Green Violet-ear: Medium hummingbird, dark metallic green (appearing black in low light) with blue-violet cheek and breast patches. Wings have black primaries. Squared tail is blue-green with black band. Slightly decurved bill is black. Direct, hovering flight with rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat
Green Violet-ear: Found in mountain forests, forest clearings, and forest edges; common from central Mexico southward into northern South America. Vagrants may show up almost anywhere, with numerous records from the eastern U.S. and as far north as Alberta and Ontario.

The Green Violet-ear has a large range, estimated globally at 800,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas, this bird prefers forest and shrubland ecosystems, though it has been known to live in plantations, rural gardens, and degraded former forests. The global population of this bird has not been estimated specifically but is thought to be large. There are no signs that the population is declining at a rate that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List, leaving the Green Violet-ear with a current evaluation level of Least Concern.

INTERESTING FACTS
The Green Violet-ear has a large violet central breast spot on the upper breast and a violet-blue band along the chin that often connects to the the violet-blue "ear," giving the bird its name. This tropical species breeds from Mexico south to Bolivia and can be found at elevations as high as 13,000 feet. A group of hummingbirds has many collective nouns, including a “bouquet", "glittering", "hover", "shimmer", and "tune” of hummingbirds.