Myrmia micrura
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The short-tailed woodstar (Myrmia micrura) is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is the only species placed in the genus Myrmia. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.
The short-tailed woodstar was originally placed in genus Calothorax but since approximately 1876 has been placed in its current myrmia. It is the only species in its genus and has no subspecies. The short-tailed woodstar is about 6 cm (2.4 in) long and weighs about 2.3 g (0.081 oz). It and the gorgeted woodstar (Chaetocercus heliodor) are the smallest birds in South America, though the little woodstar (C. bombus) is only slightly longer. It has a very short, slightly decurved, black bill. Both sexes have shining green upperparts. Males have a white stripe from the bill to below the eye. Their gorget is glittering violet and the breast white with dingy flanks. Their very short tail's central feathers are green and the rest blackish. Females lack the bright gorget; their underparts are pale buffy whitish to cinnamon buff. Their tail is like the male's with the addition of white tips on the outer feathers. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Woodstar sighting in Machalilla National Park on a given day, based on 147 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 42nd most-seen of the 248 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Woodstar in Machalilla National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February and December, the lowest months. Those are among Machalilla National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Short-tailed Woodstar sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Machalilla National Park, in our data
Machalilla National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Short-tailed Woodstar sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Short-tailed Woodstar that you can see in Machalilla National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Emerald Hummingbird (about 50%), Long-billed Starthroat (about 10%) and Esmeraldas Woodstar (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Short-tailed Woodstar is recorded against all the birds logged in Machalilla National Park (147 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.
