Blue-throated Starfrontlet

Coeligena helianthea (Lesson, RP, 1839)

Spanish: Inca Ventrivioleta

The Blue-throated Starfrontlet (Coeligena helianthea) is a hummingbird in the subfamily Lesbiinae (coquettes and brilliants), tribe Heliantheini (brilliants). It weighs about 6.6 g and its bill is 36.1 mm long. It lives in Colombia and Venezuela. Its IUCN Red List status is Least concern, with a decreasing population.

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At a glance

Weight

6.6 g, about 7 paperclips

Bill

36.1 mm

Lives in

Forest

Moves

Stays put all year

Red List status

Least concern, decreasing

Its place in the family

1. Family Trochilidae hummingbirds
2. Subfamily Lesbiinae coquettes and brilliants
3. Tribe Heliantheini brilliants
4. Genus Coeligena incas, starfrontlets

What Coeligena share: Long, straight bills.

Where it lives · 2 countries

• Colombia
• Venezuela

Others in the genus Coeligena

• Merida Starfrontlet Coeligena eos
• Golden-bellied Starfrontlet Coeligena bonapartei
• Perija Starfrontlet Coeligena consita
• Buff-winged Starfrontlet Coeligena lutetiae
• Dusky Starfrontlet Coeligena orina
• White-tailed Starfrontlet Coeligena phalerata
• Rainbow Starfrontlet Coeligena iris
• Violet-throated Starfrontlet Coeligena violifer
• Gould's Inca Coeligena inca
• Green Inca Coeligena conradii

Sources

Names: eBird/Clements Checklist (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Groups: Dickinson & Remsen (2013) and McGuire et al. (2014). Weight, bill, habitat and movement: AVONET (Tobias et al. 2022, CC BY 4.0). Countries: BirdLife International DataZone, checked against eBird records via GBIF. Red List status and trend: BirdLife International, the IUCN Red List authority for birds.

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