CreatureData

Wire-crested thorntail

Discosura popelairii (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1846)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii) is a species in the family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 2.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii)
Photo: Bill Bouton from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the wire-crested thorntail

Weight
2.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Nectarivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc 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 wire-crested thorntail live?

Not recorded

What is the wire-crested thorntail?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii) is a hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in humid forests in the Andean foothills of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and possibly Bolivia.

From the Wikipedia article “Wire-crested thorntail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wire-crested_thorntail&oldid=1315318628), 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 wire-crested thorntail endangered?

The wire-crested thorntail 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. What the categories mean.

How is the wire-crested thorntail classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderApodiformes
  5. familyTrochilidae
  6. genusDiscosura
  7. SpeciesDiscosura popelairii (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1846)

Synonyms Popelairia popelairii, Popelairia popelairii, Popelairia popelairii, Popelairia popelairii, Popelairia popelarii, Trochilus popelairii

Other names and names in other languages (28)
  • colibrí cuallarg de plomallCatalan
  • kolibřík ostrochocholatýCzech
  • Trådtoppet TornhaleDanish
  • HaubenfadenelfeGerman
  • pintatufa kolibroEsperanto
  • Rabudito crestadoSpanish
  • Cola-Cerda CrestadoSpanish
  • jouhihapsukolibriFinnish
  • Coquette de PopelaireFrench
  • dugokresti kolibrićCroatian
  • Spinuro crestafilosaItalian
  • カンムリトゲオハチドリJapanese
  • aštriakuodis dygliauodegis kolibrisLithuanian
  • Gekuifde DraadkolibrieDutch
  • topptrådstjertNorwegian
  • kolcosterek czubatyPolish
  • colibri-de-filamentosPortuguese
  • rabo-de-espinho-antenadoPortuguese
  • Острохохлая шипохвосткаRussian
  • Острохохлый колючехвостый колибриRussian
  • prilbiarik zelenorohýSlovak
  • Oštroćubi bodljorepi kolibriSerbian
  • tofsnålstjärtSwedish
  • Popelaires taggnäbbSwedish
  • Tepeli TelkuyrukTurkish
  • колібрі-голкохвіст чубатийUkrainian
  • 線冠刺尾蜂鳥Chinese
  • 翎冠刺尾蜂鸟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the wire-crested thorntail

Other species in the same genus Discosura.

CompareWire-crested thorntail vs Black-bellied thorntailWire-crested thorntail vs Green thorntailWire-crested thorntail vs Racket-tipped thorntailWire-crested thorntail vs Letitia's thorntail

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the wire-crested thorntail?

An adult wire-crested thorntail weighs 2.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the wire-crested thorntail endangered?

The wire-crested thorntail 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 wire-crested thorntail?

The wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii) 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). Wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wire-crested-thorntail

MLA

“Wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/wire-crested-thorntail.

BibTeX
@misc{wire_crested_thorntail_2026,
  title = {Wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/wire-crested-thorntail},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}