The metaltails are a group of hummingbirds in the genus Metallura. The species are distributed along the Andes.
Taxonomy and species list
The genus Metallura was introduced by the English ornithologist John Gould in 1847. The type species was subsequently designated as the black metaltail.
The genus contains nine species:
Genus Metallura – Gould, 1847 – nine species
Common name
Scientific name and subspecies
Range
Size and ecology
IUCN status and estimated population
Scaled metaltail
Metallura aeneocauda (Gould, 1846)
Two subspecies
M. a. aeneocauda
M. a. malagae
Bolivia and Peru
Size:
Seven subspecies
M. t. districta Bangs (1899)
M. t. chloropogon Cabanis & Heine (1860)
M. t. oreopola Todd (1913)
M. t. tyrianthina Loddiges (1832)
M. t. quitensis Gould (1861)...
