The green thorntail is found on the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica and the Pacific slopes of Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador almost to the Peruvian border. It is thought to also occur on the Caribbean side of eastern Panama. It is primarily a forest canopy species, inhabiting the upper levels of the interior and edges of humid montane forest and lowland evergreen forest. It also occurs at flowering trees in clearings. The green thorntail forages for nectar mostly at the tops of flowering trees but also from epiphytes and shrubs. It appears to favor legumes. It nectars while hovering with its tail cocked at nearly a right angle to its body. Its diet also includes small arthropods such as flies, wasps, and spiders that it captures by hawking from a perch and gleans from the underside of leaves while hovering.
Photographer: Dave Saunders