Includes Gould's Inca
- Coeligena torquata
Identification
All subspecies: long straight black bill, lightly forked tail where the central tail feathers and tips of other tail feathers are same color as back while the outer tail feathers have a large area of white. Both sexes have lower breast, belly, and undertail coverts about the same color.
Subspecies conradii: male is mostly grass green with green throat and white upper breast; female similar with cinnamon throat and white upper breast.
Subspecies torquata: much darker than conradii (male more than female); female has green upper throat and white below to upper breast; male has blue crown, and almost black head.
Subspecies omissa: male has black head with white post-ocular spot, a complete pale rufous to tan collar (including back of the neck), and mostly green body that sometimes gives blue reflections from shoulder. Female has head less strongly marked and the collar extending to include the entire throat.
Subspecies inca is supposed to be similar to omissa except for darker rufous collar. The subspecies between omissa and torquata are supposed to be intermediate but with some deviations: for example is the head of fulgidigula less black than torquata.
Distribution
Western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Taxonomy
Two groups that have variably been treated as two or one species, is here treated as one in agreement with a majority of the world-wide checklists:
- group "Collared Inca" includes subspecies conradii, torquata, fulgidigula, margaretae, insectivora, and eisenmani (from north to south)
- group "Gould's Inca" includes subspecies omissa and inca (from north to south).
The South American Classification Committee looked at a proposal to split these two units, and had a majority in favor of "No". The remarks indicated that new information might change that at a future date.
Subspecies
There are 8 subspecies[1]
- C. t. conradii:
- C. t. torquata:
- Andes of Colombia to north-western Venezuela (Táchira) and northern Peru
- C. t. fulgidigula:
- Andes of western Ecuador
- C. t. margaretae:
- Andes of northern Peru (Chachapoyas)
- C. t. insectivora:
- Andes of central Peru
- C. t. eisenmanni:
- Southern Peru (Cordillera Vilcabamba)
- C. t. omissa:
- Andes of south-eastern Peru (Urubamba to Puno)
- C. t. inca:
- Andes of Bolivia (La Paz and Cochabamba)
Habitat
Forests in upper subtropical and temperate zones.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes nectar.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- SACC proposal to split into two species (not passed)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Collared Inca. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Collared_Inca
