CreatureData

Red-tailed comet

Sappho sparganurus (Shaw, 1812)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus) is a species in the family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes. Recorded adults weigh 4.8 g to 5.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus)
Photo: Hugo Hulsberg · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the red-tailed comet

Weight
4.8 g – 5.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Nectarivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the red-tailed comet live?

Not recorded

What is the red-tailed comet?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus) is a medium-sized hummingbird belonging to tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae, the "coquettes". It is found in Argentina and Bolivia and possibly Chile and Peru.

From the Wikipedia article “Red-tailed comet” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-tailed_comet&oldid=1380713545), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the red-tailed comet endangered?

The red-tailed comet is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the red-tailed comet classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderApodiformes
  5. familyTrochilidae
  6. genusSappho
  7. SpeciesSappho sparganurus (Shaw, 1812)

Synonyms Sappho sparganura, Trochilus sparganurus

Other names and names in other languages (33)
  • colibrí cua d'estel vermellCatalan
  • sylfa červenoocasáCzech
  • sïedn cynffonnog cochWelsh
  • SapphokometDanish
  • SchleppensylpheGerman
  • GoldschwanzsylpheGerman
  • ruĝvostega kolibroEsperanto
  • Colibrí cometaSpanish
  • Picaflor cometaSpanish
  • säihkypyrstökolibriFinnish
  • Colibri saphoFrench
  • Sappho à longue traineFrench
  • ružorepi kolibrićCroatian
  • uszályos kolibriHungarian
  • Cometa codarossaItalian
  • アカフタオハチドリJapanese
  • rausvauodegė kometaLithuanian
  • SapphokomeetkolibrieDutch
  • kometkolibriNorwegian
  • safoPolish
  • colibri-cometa-douradoPortuguese
  • beija-flor-da-cauda-vermelhaPortuguese
  • cometa-de-cauda-vermelhaPortuguese
  • Колибри-сафоRussian
  • Златохвостая кометаRussian
  • vrchárik vidlochvostýSlovak
  • chvostáčik vidlochvostýSlovak
  • Crvenorepi kometa kolibriSerbian
  • sapfokometSwedish
  • Kızıl Kuyruklu PeriTurkish
  • сафоUkrainian
  • 紅尾彗星蜂鳥Chinese
  • 红尾彗星蜂鸟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the red-tailed comet

Other species in the same family Trochilidae.

CompareRed-tailed comet vs Bee hummingbirdRed-tailed comet vs Anna's hummingbirdRed-tailed comet vs Southern giant hummingbirdRed-tailed comet vs Ruby-throated hummingbird

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the red-tailed comet?

An adult red-tailed comet weighs 4.8 g – 5.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the red-tailed comet endangered?

The red-tailed comet is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the red-tailed comet?

The red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus) belongs to the family Trochilidae in the order Apodiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-tailed-comet

MLA

“Red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-tailed-comet.

BibTeX
@misc{red_tailed_comet_2026,
  title = {Red-tailed comet (Sappho sparganurus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-tailed-comet},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}