The very rare Stump-Tailed hummingbird of Northern Belize

[RVT1K]

Well..not really. What it is is a Green-Breasted Mango hummingbird with no tail feathers??!!
I've never seen anything like this before.
It did not appear to effect the bird's ability to fly or hover.
I'm curious to know what you all think might have happened. My vote is "fight" but I really don't know.

 

[Jeff1549 49]

Good shooting ...

 

[jeffashman12 3]

Wonderful shot! If I had to guess, and illness that cause the tail feathers to drop.

 

[RVT1K]

Wonderful shot! If I had to guess, and illness that cause the tail feathers to drop.

I considered that as well. But I would think that all the feathers would be effected? The only other birds that I have seen with missing feathers were missing them all over. But, like I said to a friend "my bird-biology-game is not strong".

A couple of others have asked if it even has legs. They are hard to see but the tips of the claws are there, its legs are just tucked in.

 

[terri36 7]

I'm glad to see he's flying and feeding without apparent difficulty. Poor little guy.

Doesn't seem like a normal molt would have done that. Hopefully over time those tail feathers will grow back.

Could have been an illness like Jeff suggested, or just landing somewhere he got trapped or stuck. Another possibility is he almost got caught by a predator, like a cat who took a swipe but missed.

He still looks healthy and strong, at least!

 

[RVT1K]

I'm glad to see he's flying and feeding without apparent difficulty. Poor little guy.

Doesn't seem like a normal molt would have done that. Hopefully over time those tail feathers will grow back.

Could have been an illness like Jeff suggested, or just landing somewhere he got trapped or stuck. Another possibility is he almost got caught by a predator, like a cat who took a swipe but missed.

He still looks healthy and strong, at least!

I did some more looking into this and found a forum where several others had seen this, a hummingbird missing its tail feathers. Someone had posted that it was likely a predator -cat or other bird- and that the tail feathers come out fairly easily as an escape mechanism and they should grow back.
I can't say how accurate that may be buy it makes sense to me.

But he does seem to be fine otherwise. Lots of visits yesterday and I see no evidence of it having trouble flying. It zips in, darts around and hits almost every flower, then zips away.

With luck, I'll be able to document the tail feathers growing back!

 

[RVT1K]

Apparently you DO find info on the internet that reflects reality!!

I read that the feathers would grow back and, as you can see, they are.

This bird is a regular, daily visitor and I plan to document them growing in.

 

[Bill in Texas]

Apparently you DO find info on the internet that reflects reality!!

I read that the feathers would grow back and, as you can see, they are.

This bird is a regular, daily visitor and I plan to document them growing in.

View attachment 282266

Thanks for the post. Interesting information. Nice shot of this hummingbird.

 

[RVT1K]

Thanks for the post. Interesting information. Nice shot of this hummingbird.

You're welcome. I'm glad to have the opportunity and will continue to watch this one and get more shots of the tail feathers filling in.

 

[RVT1K]

The new tail feathers are already noticeably larger than the last time I photographed it. I took this one this morning.