Beautiful sheartail

The beautiful sheartail shares genus Calothorax with the Lucifer sheartail (C. lucifer). It is monotypic.[3]

The beautiful sheartail is 7.7 to 9 cm (3.0 to 3.5 in) long and weighs about 2.2 to 3 g (0.078 to 0.11 oz). Both sexes have a long, slightly decurved, black bill. Males have metallic bronze green upperparts and a white stripe behind the eye. Their gorget is metallic magenta purple that is more violet and blue to the rear; the rear feathers are elongated. The breast is grayish white, the flanks metallic bronze green, and the undertail coverts white. The tail is long and forked. The central two pairs of feathers are metallic bronze green and the other three pairs bronzy black. The female's upperparts are also metallic bronze green that is duller on the crown. The underparts are pale grayish buff with cinnamon buff flanks. The tail is shorter than the male's and rounded. Its central two pairs of feathers are bright bronze green. The three outer pairs have light cinnamon rufous bases and the balance is black but for white tips on the outer two pairs.[5]

The beautiful sheartail is found only in south central Mexico, from central Guerrero and southern Puebla south to Oaxaca. It inhabits arid and semiarid scrublands, semi-open areas with trees and shrubs, and gallery forest, mostly within interior valleys. In elevation it ranges between 1,000 and 2,200 m (3,300 and 7,200 ft).[5]

The IUCN has assessed the beautiful sheartail as being of Least Concern. It has a fairly large range and an estimated population of between 20,000 and 50,000 mature individuals. However, the population is believed to be decreasing. No specific threats have been identified.[1]