Peruvian Sheartail

The Peruvian sheartail (Thaumastura cora) is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is the only species placed in the genus Thaumastura. It is found in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. == Taxonomy and systematics == The Peruvian sheartail was first described by René Lesson and Prosper Garnot in 1827 as Ornismya cora. Bonaparte assigned it to its current genus Thaumastura in 1850. In the past, several subspecies were assigned to it but since at least the 1950s they have all been determined to be individual variation. In addition, several other species have at times been assigned to genus Thaumastura. The Peruvian sheartail is now the only member of its genus and has no subspecies. It is closely related to the short-tailed woodstar (Myrmia micrura), purple-collared woodstar (Myrtis fanny), and oasis hummingbird (Rhodopis vesper) despite their all being in different genera. == Description == The male Peruvian sheartail is about 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weighs about 2.5 g (0.088 oz). The female about 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long and weighs about 2.6 g (0.092 oz). It is among the tiniest hummingbirds. Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill. Both sexes have…