Merida Sunangel - BirdForum Opus

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Artwork by Gustavo Jimenez
Location: Venezuela Andes

Heliangelus spencei

Identification

9.4 cm.
Dark green above, dusky crown with greenish-blue frontlet (though sometimes described as silvery), black ear coverts, bold white spot behind the eye, glittering pinkish-purple throat, breast and belly pale yellowish with green spots. Females resemble males but are duller, with a maroon throat.

Distribution

North-east Colombia and nearest Venezuela.

Taxonomy

Formerly included in Amethyst-throated Sunangel.

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Edges of forest and bushy areas nearby in montane areas of 2000-3600 m asl.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2) DRAFT. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
3. del Hoyo, J., I. Heynen, N. Collar, P. F. D. Boesman, G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe (2022). Merida Sunangel (Heliangelus spencei), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.amtsun4.01

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Merida Sunangel. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Merida_Sunangel

External Links

Search for photos of Merida Sunangel in the gallery