A classification of the bird species of South America.

^ HBW and BirdLife International (2020) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world Version 5.'Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl'.

Incubation takes 15 to 19 days, and fledging another 18 to 22 days. It is typically placed up to 6 m (20 ft) high on a thin horizontal twig. She lays two white eggs in a compact cup nest constructed from plant fibers, leaves, and spiderwebs covered with lichens and mosses. The female is entirely responsible for nest building, incubation of eggs, and care of nestlings. Its breeding season varies widely across its range, but is within the February to November span. Though it is aggressive while feeding, the species sometimes nests in loose colonies. The rufous-tailed hummingbird is polygynous. It is extremely territorial and aggressive at feeding sites such as flower patches and feeders, from which it chases other hummingbirds and large insects. It is common at sugar water feeders and often seen in coffee and banana plantations. Like most hummingbirds, the rufous-tailed feeds on nectar and small insects. It is found as high as 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Ecuador but that elevation is thought be local or seasonal. In elevation the rufous-tailed hummingbird ranges from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Mexico, to 1,850 m (6,100 ft) in Costa Rica, 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Colombia, and 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in Venezuela. It is also found in low, young, brushy, secondary forest. The rufous-tailed hummingbird inhabits open, non-forested, landscapes such as clearings, gardens, and the edges of forest. The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society extends the range of A. jucunda, from Chocó Department in western Colombia south through western Ecuador to Loja Province brehmi, the upper Güiza River in Colombia's Nariño Department fuscicaudata, the Cauca River and Magdalena River valleys of northern and western Colombia east into western Venezuela's Lara and Táchira states handleyi, Isla Escudo de Veraguas off the Caribbean coast of northwestern Panama tzacatl, from the eastern Mexican states of Veracruz and Oaxaca south through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica into most of Panama (It apparently skips El Salvador.) The subspecies of the rufous-tailed hummingbird are found thus: It has a longer bill than fuscicaudata and reduced green on the tail like jucunda. brehmi is similar to jucunda and fuscicaudata but has longer wings and tail. jucunda 's maxilla is pinkish brown rather than black its belly is a darker gray than the nominate's and the bronze green on the tail is narrower. fuscicaudata is smaller than the nominate and has a shorter and stouter bill.

handleyi has the same color pattern as the nominate but is significantly larger and darker. The outer half of the bill's maxilla is black and the inner half red the mandible is red with a black tip. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash to the lower breast and sides and the feathers of the lower back and rump have narrow cinnamon tips. The adult female's lower breast is a paler gray than the male's and the scalloping on the throat is more pronounced. The lower breast is gray, the belly white, and the undertail coverts chestnut-brown. The throat, upper breast, and sides are green the throat feathers sometimes have thin white edges giving a scalloped effect. The tail is also mostly chestnut-brown, giving the species its English name the feathers' outer webs and tips are bronze green. The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a green head and upperparts except for chestnut-brown lores and uppertail coverts. The rufous-tailed hummingbird is 9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in) long and weighs approximately 5 g (0.18 oz). fuscicaudata should be a separate subspecies. At least one author treated the rufous-tailed hummingbird and the chestnut-bellied hummingbird ( Saucerottia castaneiventris) as a superspecies the latter was included in genus Amazilia at that time, but the two are now known to not be closely related. handleyi was originally described as a separate species, the Escudo hummingbird. The rufous-tailed hummingbird has these five recognized subspecies:

Rufous hummingbird