Short-tailed emerald

The short-tailed emerald (Chlorostilbon poortmani) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. It has also been called Poortman's emerald hummingbird.

The male short-tailed emerald is 6.9 to 8.5 cm (2.7 to 3.3 in) long and females 6.5 to 7.5 cm (2.6 to 3.0 in). The species weighs between 3 and 4 g (0.11 and 0.14 oz). Both sexes of both subspecies have a straight black bill. Males of the nominate subspecies have an iridescent green forehead and bronzy green crown, upperparts, and uppertail coverts. Their underparts are brilliant glittery green. Their tail is short, forked, and iridescent bronze green. Nominate females have a dull green forehead and a dull bronzy green crown, upperparts, and uppertail coverts. Their underparts are gray. Their tail, like the male's, is short and forked. Its central pair of feathers is green and the others have dull turquoise bases becoming dark blue near the end with pale gray tips. Subspecies C. p. euchloris is very similar to the nominate, but is slightly larger and has a golden tinge to the crown and underparts.

The short-tailed emerald closely resembles several other members of genus Chlorostilbon. A few other species of the genus have similarly short tails (e.g. the green-tailed emerald). The female short-tailed is quite similar to those of the coppery emerald (C. russatus) and narrow-tailed emerald (C. stenurus) but they no blue in their tails.