Streamertail
genus of birds
The streamertails are hummingbirds in the genus Trochilus that are endemic to Jamaica. It is the type genus of the family Trochilidae. Today, most authorities consider the two taxa in this genus as separate species, but some (e.g. AOU) continue to treat them as conspecific, in which case T. scitulus is a subspecies of T. polytmus. A wide range of common names applies to this combined species, including green-and-black streamertail, Jamaican streamertail, or simply streamertail. The name "streamertail" is a reference to the greatly elongated rectrices of the males.
Taxonomy and species list
The genus Trochilus was introduced in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek τροχιλος/trokhilos, a small unidentified bird mentioned by Aristotle. Later authors assumed the word referred to a wren. The type species was subsequently designated as the red-billed streamertail.
“Streamertail” enters the record as genus of birds. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Streamertail, genus and birds can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Streamertail” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Streamertail, genus and birds provides the most credible route into that argument.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q687310. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1758.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Streamertail” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.