Amethyst-throated Sunangel - BirdForum Opus

Includes Longuemare's Sunangel and Merida Sunangel

Photo © by Stanley Jones
Abra Malaga Area, east of Cusco, Cusco District, Peru, September, 2009

Heliangelus amethysticollis

Identification

10 cm (4 in).
Dark green above, black crown, bold white spot behind the eye, glittering pinkish-purple throat, breast and belly dark green mixed with grey. Females resemble males but are duller.

Distribution

South America. Found in: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Sub-adult Male
Photo © by edenwatcher
Tapichalaca, Ecuador, March 2006

There are 6 subspecies^[1]:

• H. a. violiceps :

• Sierra de Perijá (Colombia/Venezuela border)

• H. a. spencei:

• Andes of north-western Venezuela (Mérida)

• H. a. clarisse:

• Eastern Andes of Colombia and adjacent western Venezuela

• H. a. laticlavius:

• Andes of southern Ecuador and northern Peru

• H. a. decolor:

• East slope of Andes of central Peru (from Amazonas south of the Marañón River to Junín)

• H. a. apurimacensis

• South central Peru (Apurímac Valley and upper Urubamba Valley, Ayacucho and Cusco)

• H. a. amethysticollis:

• Andes of southern Peru (eastern Cusco to Puno) and of northwestern Bolivia (La Paz to Cochabamba)

Three of these subspecies have sometimes been placed as a full species: Heliangelus clarisse (Longuemare's Sunangel) including violiceps, and spencei; when spencei is recognized as its own species the name Merida Sunangel is used. ^{[2, 3]}

Habitat

Moist montanes.

Behaviour

Diet includes nectar and insects.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. SACC proposal to recognize Longuemare's Sunangel (did not pass)
4. Paper describing H. a. apurimacensis

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Amethyst-throated Sunangel. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Amethyst-throated_Sunangel

External Links

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