• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Justification of Red List category
This species has a small range in which habitat degradation is likely to be causing the population to decline. However, it is not yet severely fragmented or restricted to few locations. Therefore the species is classified as Near Threatened.

Population justification
The species is described as 'fairly common' (Stotz et al. 1996). Based on an observed density of c. 1.5 pairs/ha on Paria peninsula (Bond et al. 1989), and assuming that around 10% of the range is occupied by the species, the global population may number c. 72,000 mature individuals. To account for uncertainty, the population is here placed in the band 50,000-99,999 mature individuals, though this requires confirmation.

Trend justification
There are no new data on population trends; however, the species is suspected to be declining slowly, as a result of habitat degradation.

Campylopterus ensipennis is restricted to the Turimiquire Massif (at 760-1,830 m) and Paria Peninsula (at 400-1,200 m) in north-east Venezuela, and the Main Ridge down to 100 m on Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago) (Hayes 1996, F. E. Hayes in litt. 1998, 1999). In Venezuela, it is relatively common in shade coffee plantations on Cerro Negro and other parts of the Cordillera de Caripe, as well as in the Serranía del Turimiquire (Boesman and Curson 1995, Colvee 1999, C. J. Sharpe in litt. 2016). On the Paria peninsula it is also common, with 1.5 pairs/ha estimated on Cerro El Olvido in 1988 and 0.2 males/ha recorded in primary forest and 4.5 males/ha in shade coffee plantations on Cerro Humo in 1993 (Bond et al. 1989, Evans et al. 1994, C. J. Sharpe in litt. 2011, 2016). On Tobago, it is recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Flora in 1963, but remains absent from the south-west (Hillsborough Reservoir) and north-east (Pigeon Peak) portions of its former range (F. E. Hayes in litt. 1998, 1999). Recent surveys suggest that there are between several hundred and in excess of 1,000 individuals on Tobago (Hayes 1996).

It inhabits mature montane forest, edges of clearings, shade coffee and abandoned plantations and regenerating forest less than 15 m tall. On Tobago males lek all year round but there is a pronounced breeding season during February to April (Hayes et al. 2000).

In its Venezuelan range (except the extreme east of Paria Peninsula), there is clearance for agriculture and pasture, repeated burning and understorey removal for coffee (Boesman and Curson 1995), including within national parks (C. J. Sharpe in litt. 2016). Some localised areas of the Paria Peninsula National Park have been deforested to make way for telecommunications and transport infrastructure (C. J. Sharpe in litt. 2016). A proposed cryogenics plant and pipeline on the Paria Peninsula is not currently judged economically viable but remains a potential threat (C. J. Sharpe, J-P. Rodríguez and F. Rojas-Suárez in litt. 1999). Natural disasters, such as the hurricane which destroyed most forest on Tobago in 1963, have resulted in significant population declines.

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. In Venezuela, it is formally protected by Paria Peninsula and El Guácharo National Parks (recently expanded to include a further 500 km² of largely undisturbed forest [F. E. Hayes in litt. 1998, 1999]) and, in Tobago, occurs within the proposed Main Ridge National Park. On Tobago, it is the subject of a conservation/education initiative by the Tobago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and RARE Center. It has been the subject of a long-term (Caribbean Union College and University of the West Indies) ecological study (Hayes et al. 2000). The species is listed as Near Threatened at the national level in Venezuela (Rodríguez et al. 2015).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Quantify and monitor the population size and trend. Ensure protection of the national parks where it occurs. Designate a protected area around the mountain known as Quiriquire or Piedra 'e Mole' to protect the largest remaining forest block in the Serranía del Turimiquire (C. J. Sharpe in litt. 2016). Continue the conservation and education initiative on Tobago and consider a similar scheme in Venezuela.

13 cm. Large predominantly green hummingbird with distinctive white outer-tail feathers. Male glittering green, with white post-ocular spot, blue and iridescent dark violet throat. Bronze tail with white distal two-thirds of three outer rectrices. Female similar with grey underparts with green markings on flanks. Similar spp. Only large sympatric hummingbird with white in tail. Voice Repeated chirp. Hints Feeds predominantly on bromeliads in lower to middle strata and frequents second growth and tree fall gaps.

Text account compilers
Wheatley, H., Hermes, C.

Contributors
Benstead, P., Capper, D., Hayes, F.E., Mahood, S., Rodríguez, J.-P., Rojas-Suárez, F., Sharpe, C.J., Sharpe, C J & Wege, D.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-tailed Sabrewing Campylopterus ensipennis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-tailed-sabrewing-campylopterus-ensipennis on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.