The sooty-capped hermit (Phaethornis augusti) is a species of bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The sooty-capped hermit is closely related to the planalto hermit (P. pretrei) and may form a superspecies with it. Three subspecies of sooty-capped hermit are recognized, the nominate P. a. augusti, P. a. curiosus, and P. a incanescens. A fourth proposed subspecies P. a. vicarius, in the Colombian Andes, cannot be separated from the nominate.
Description
The sooty-capped hermit is about long. Males weigh and females . They are mostly grayish brown above with a rufous rump and uppertail coverts. The next-to-inner tail feathers are longer than the others and all have white tips. Their underparts are gray. The face has a black "mask" with a white supercilium and gular stripe. The subspecies differ slightly in the intensity of the breast and uppertail covert colors and the size of the gular stripe.