Sombre Hummingbird

The sombre hummingbird is about 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighs about 7.1 to 9 g (0.25 to 0.32 oz). The sexes are essentially the same though the female is slightly smaller than the male. They have a slightly decurved black bill. Their upperparts are bronzy green to blackish bronzy green with a coppery sheen to the uppertail coverts. Their underparts are dull gray with a few dull green spots on the throat. Their tail is square; its central feathers are shiny green and the rest black with a bronzy gloss.

The sombre hummingbird is found in eastern Brazil from Pernambuco south into Rio Grande do Sul and west as far as Mato Grosso. It inhabits the edges and understory of humid primary and secondary forest, plantations, and gardens. The core of its habitat is the Atlantic Forest but it also occurs in the transition zone between cerrado and caatinga biomes.

The sombre hummingbird forages for nectar at a variety of flowering plants including introduced Eucalyptus. It does so from the understory to as high as 30 m (100 ft) above the ground. It is highly territorial and spends half its time aggressively defending flower patches from hummingbirds of its own and other species. In addition to nectar it feeds on arthropods captured by hawking from a perch.