Santa Marta woodstar

The Santa Marta woodstar and several other species in genus Chaetocercus were formerly placed in genus Acestrura. In addition, it was for a time treated as a subspecies of the gorgeted woodstar (C. heliodor). It has been in its current position since the late 20th century.[3] It is monotypic.[4]

The Santa Marta woodstar is about 7 cm (2.8 in) long. Both sexes have a straight black bill. The male's head is shiny green and the rest of the upperparts dark shiny bluish. It has a reddish gorget that extends across the neck. The breast is gray and the belly bluish with a white spot on the flanks. The tail is forked, with very short central feathers and outer ones that are bare shafts. The female is bronzy green above and pale cinnamon-rufous below with a dark cheek patch and, like the male, a white spot on the flanks. Its rounded tail has green central feathers and the rest are cinnamon with a black bar near the end.[6]

The Santa Marta woodstar is found only in the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of northern Colombia. It inhabits the edges of montane forest, semi-open woodlands, and coffee plantations, and occasionally visits the lower parts of the páramo. In elevation it ranges between 825 and 2,000 m (2,700 and 6,600 ft).[6]

The IUCN has assessed the Santa Marta woodstar as being of Least Concern. Though it has a limited range and its population size is unknown, the latter is believed to be stable.[1] It is considered locally common and readily accepts some human-altered landscapes like coffee plantations, though some of its natural habitat is under threat of deforestation.[6]