Locally common and widespread across the Coastal Cordillera; one of the easier Venezuelan endemics. Regular en el cloud-forest edges and gardens/feeders en the right elevation band. Note IUCN/HBW taxonomy lumps it with Short-tailed Emerald, so it is not always assessed under its own name.
Marcas
Small emerald: male glittering green overall (bright green throat and underparts) with a slightly forked, glittering green a bluish-green tail and a short straight black bill. Female greener above, grayish-white below with green flecking on the sides, and small white postocular spot and dusky cheek. The all-green tail (not bronzy/blue) and small size are key.
Hábitat
Bordes semi-abiertos de bosque semi-húmedo, bosque nuboso, crecimiento secundario, plantaciones, jardines y a veces bosque seco; aproximadamente 700–1.800 m, localmente más bajo.
Comportamiento
Forager activo, de bajo a medio nivel en arbustos florecientes, jardines y borde del bosque; visita comederos; machos se posan en ramitas expuestas y defienden parches florales con persecuciones rápidas.
Voz
Alto, seco, rápido twittering y finas notas de chip típico de las esmeraldas de clorostilo. Buscar Xeno-canto / Macaulay Library para 'Chlorostilbon alicia' o 'Green-tailed Emerald'; comparar con 'Short-tailed Emerald' (Chlorostilbon pouthmani) para entrenar la oreja en el género.
Short-tailed Emerald (Chlorostilbon poortmani) — very similar; separated mainly by range/elevation and slightly different tail shape/color (the two are sometimes treated as one species)
Esmeralda de cola azul (Clorostilbon mellisugus) — color de la cola de la nota (azul-verde vs verde) y rango
Las hembras pueden confundirse con las mujeres bombonas u otras pequeñas esmeraldas, usando la cola verde, la mejilla oscura y la mancha postocular blanca.
Nota de orientación
Reliable consolation/warm-up endemic on any Coastal Cordillera circuit — work feeders and flowering shrubs en el Rancho Grande or Colonia Tovar and you should connect quickly. Emphasize the wholly green (not bronze or blue) tail a clients, since the emerald genus is a classic 'small green confusion group'.
