Uncommon and very local in Venezuela; restricted to the Perijá foothills. Far easier on the Colombian (Santa Marta / Magdalena) side, so in Venezuela it is a genuine target that takes effort and access to the Sierra de Perijá to find.
Field marks
Small (male ~8 cm, ~3.5 g) short straight black bill. Both sexes are diagnostic for the rich coppery-bronze gloss to the tail-coverts and wing-coverts. Male: shining golden-green crown, upperparts and underparts; coppery uppertail-coverts and slightly forked golden-coppery tail. Female: coppery-green above and on flanks, smoky-gray below; slightly forked greenish-coppery tail with a coppery-purple subterminal band and pale tips on the outer feathers.
Habitat
Semi-open and open landscapes: dry to humid scrub, forest edge, hedgerows and cultivated/second-growth areas, mostly 500–1,700 m (recorded sea level to ~2,600 m). Favors flowering shrubs and edge habitat rather than forest interior.
Behavior
Typical small emerald — fast, low, traplines flowering shrubs and edge vegetation; perches conspicuously on bare twigs between feeding bouts; defends rich flower patches.
Voice
High, thin, dry tsik/tsi notes and a light chittering twitter typical of Chlorostilbon emeralds; not a strong songster. Listen to reference cuts on Xeno-canto and Macaulay Library under the search term "Coppery Emerald" or "Chlorostilbon russatus".
Other small green hummingbirds at Perijá edge (e.g. Steely-vented / Blue-tailed-type Saucerottia) — separate by the unique coppery-bronze tail- and wing-covert gloss and the small size + straight black bill
Female could suggest a small woodnymph or other emerald — the coppery sheen and smoky-gray underparts of the female are the clincher
Guide note
This is an access bird, not a hard-ID bird. Stake out a blooming hedgerow or Inga/flowering shrub patch at the right elevation on the Perijá edge and let the bird come to a favored perch — point clients at the coppery tail gloss in good light, which is the single best teachable field mark.
