Pale tailed barbthroat (Threnetes niger) is found from Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guyanas south to Bolivia and into much of Brazil. This species can be recognized by the underside of the tail which is mostly white except for a few black tips. The throat is black, but the lower throat in some forms is orange. The upper breast can be dark to greenish to pale brown. The bill is long and downward curving.

There are six subspecies. The nominate subspecies is found from French Guyana south into Brazil. The subspecies cervinicauda is found in eastern Colombia south to north eastern Peru and east into adjacent Brazil. The subspecies rufigasatra is found from central Peru south into Bolivia. The subspecies leucurus as shown here is found in the Orinoco Basin and south into much of Brazil to eastern Bolivia. The subspecies loehkeni is found north of the Amazon in the lower Amazon Valley, and the subspecies medianus is found south of the Amazon in the lower Amazon Valley. (One would think that the wildlife would easily fly across the Amazon, but several Morpho butterflies including the hecuba-cisseis complex have widely divergent color forms based on the split caused by the Amazon.)

The Princeton Illustrated Checklist shows T. leucurus and T. niger as two different species. They show T. niger with a dark throat and breast and T. leucurus with an orange lower throat and paler breast.

The Threnetes genus is found on the mainland of South America. Howard and Moore showed two species in 2003, but the Princeton Illustrated Check List divides Threnetes niger into T. leucurus and T. niger to total three species. These are brownish birds with elongated downward curving bills.

The hermit group of hummingbirds contains just a small portion of the hummingbird family. There were about 4 genera per Monroe in 1993 and Howard and Moore in 2003 recognized 6 genera. There are about 29-30 species in this group.

Most of the species in this group have downward curving bills. Several species have fan tails with rounded feathers while other species have fan tails with feathers that end in a point.

Hummingbirds (Family Trochilidae) are a family of 319 species of small birds that are well-known for their ability to hover. Prior to 1900, millions of these birds were exported from South America (primarily Colombia) and the Caribbean for use in jewelry in Europe and England. Many of the species are very brilliantly colored.

This family is nicely represented in Costa Rica where over 50 different species have been recorded.

Swifts and Hummingbirds (Order Apodiformes) are combined into a single order. Both families have excellent flying abilities. The swifts are known for their speed, and the hummingbirds for their ability to hover.

Clements in 2007 listed 100 swifts, 4 treeswifts, and 339 hummingbirds. (Total of 443 species.)

Aves contains about 8,650 different species of living birds known to science. Each year about one new species is discovered in some remote rain forest or remote island. In addition, scientists have been raising many subspecies to full species status which may raise the species count to 10,000. Birdlife recognizes 10,027 species as of 2011.

However, each year about one species goes extinct. The rate of extinction is increasing, and the rate of new discovery is decreasing, so that the number of bird species will soon begin to decline rapidly. Although different taxonomists would organize the birds differently, there are approximately twenty-seven orders of birds. These orders are broken down into about one hundred and fifty-five different families.

Recent research of the genetic structure of some of the shore birds and owls would indicate that the present organization of orders and families should have some modification.

The birds are a worldwide group of animals that are characterized by having the front limbs modified into wings that are used for flying. Perhaps the most unique feature of the birds is the feathers. These feathers are made up of a central support called a quill and a series of small filaments that are hooked together as barbs.

For many years it was believed that Archaeopteryx discovered in Bavaria was the oldest bird from about 150 million years ago. However, in l986, Sankar Chattterjee, a Texas paleontologist, reportedly discovered a bird in the genus Protoavis that lived about 225 million years ago.

When this project was begun in 1978, we used Austin & Singer for bird taxonomy. Since then, we have adopted many changes, but have kept some older concepts that are still found widely in the literature. Recently, we have used Clements and Howard & Moore. Very recently, we have used Monroe and Sibley for the higher taxonomy of the perching birds.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

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