Ensifera ensifera
Silhouette: Ernst Haeckel (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), also known as the swordbill, is a neotropical species of hummingbird from the Andean regions of South America. It is the only member in the genus Ensifera. Among the largest species of hummingbird, it is characterized by its unusually long bill, being the only bird to have a beak longer than the rest of its body, excluding the tail. It uses its bill to drink nectar from flowers with long corollas and has coevolved with the species Passiflora mixta. While most hummingbirds preen using their bills, the sword-billed hummingbird uses its feet to scratch and preen due to its bill being so long.
The sword-billed hummingbird is a trap-line feeder and feeds on nectar, especially from Passiflora mixta and other passionflowers. It also hawks for insects. It breeds from February to March and builds cup nests using moss. The sword-billed hummingbird is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List, but is threatened by climate change and deforestation.
The sword-billed hummingbird was first described as Ornismya ensifera by Auguste Boissonneau in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sword-billed Hummingbird sighting in Chingaza National Natural Park on a given day, based on 35 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 107th most-seen of the 258 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, October and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sword-billed Hummingbird in Chingaza National Natural Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–April, June–September and November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sword-billed Hummingbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Sword-billed Hummingbird sightings, Chingaza National Natural Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Los Nevados National Natural Park (Colombia, about 10%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Sword-billed Hummingbird that you can see in Chingaza National Natural Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Tyrian Metaltail (about 60%), Glowing Puffleg (about 50%) and Bronze-tailed Thornbill (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sword-billed Hummingbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Chingaza National Natural Park (35 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
