Tumbes hummingbird

This species was formerly placed in the genus Leucippus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Leucippus was polyphyletic.[5] To resolve the polyphyly the Tumbes hummingbird and the spot-throated hummingbird (Taphrospilus hypostictus) were moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus Thaumasius. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retains it in Leucippus.[6][4][7][8][3]

The Tumbes hummingbird is monotypic.[4]

The Tumbes hummingbird is 8 to 11 cm (3.1 to 4.3 in) long and weighs about 4.5 g (0.16 oz). The sexes are essentially alike. They have a nearly straight black bill. Their upperparts are pale golden green and their underparts pale grayish that becomes white on the belly. The tail feathers are pale green; the inner ones have bronzy tips and the outer ones a dusky gray band near the end and tips that are whitish in the male and grayish in the female.[9]

The Tumbes hummingbird is found in southwestern Ecuador's El Oro and Loja provinces and into northwestern Peru as far south as Lambayeque Department. It inhabits arid scrublands and the edges of deciduous forest in the Tumbes ecoregion. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Ecuador and 1,275 m (4,200 ft) in Peru.[9]

The IUCN has assessed the Tumbes hummingbird as being of Least Concern, though it has a limited range and its population size and trend are unknown. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] However, because of its restricted range, "it remains potentially vulnerable to any increase in habitat loss, degradation, or fragmentation."[9]