Black Inca  (Coeligena prunellei)

The black Inca is a dark-coloured hummingbird, which has a long straight bill (2). The plumage is generally black, with a greenish-blue throat patch; on each side of the chest there is a white patch, and the shoulders are iridescent blue (2). As with most hummingbirds, the female is somewhat drab in colour compared to the male (4). The narrow wings are adapted for hovering and the legs and feet are small and weak, a feature hinted at by the name of the order to which hummingbirds and swifts belong, ‘Apodiformes', a term that means footless (4).