Chaetocercus is a genus of hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae.

Taxonomy

The genus Chaetocercus was introduced in 1855 by the English zoologist George Robert Gray with the rufous-shafted woodstar as the type species. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek words khaitē, meaning "hair" and kerkos, meaning "tail".

The species, except for the rufous-shafted woodstar, were formerly placed in the genus Acestrura. In 1999 Karl-Ludwig Schuchmann remarked in the Handbook of the Birds of the World that for the species placed in Acestrura: "...no evidence in external morphology justifies treatment in a genus separate from C. jourdanii". Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the genus Chaetocercus is sister to the slender-tailed woodstar that is placed in its own genus Microstilbon.

The genus contains six species:

References