Horned Sungem

Heliactin bilophus (Temminck, 1820)

Spanish: Colibrí Cornudito

The Horned Sungem (Heliactin bilophus) is a hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae (mangoes). It weighs about 4.4 g and its bill is 18.5 mm long. It lives in Brazil, Bolivia and Suriname. Its IUCN Red List status is Least concern, with a decreasing population.

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At a glance

Weight

4.4 g, about 4 paperclips

Bill

18.5 mm

Lives in

Woodland

Moves

Stays put all year

Red List status

Least concern, decreasing

Its place in the family

1. Family Trochilidae hummingbirds
2. Subfamily Polytminae mangoes
3. Genus Heliactin sungems

What Heliactin share: Males have colorful tufts that stick out like horns.

Where it lives · 3 countries

• Brazil
• Bolivia
• Suriname

Nearest relatives, in the subfamily Polytminae (mangoes)

• Lesser Violetear Colibri cyanotus
• Tooth-billed Hummingbird Androdon aequatorialis
• Mexican Violetear Colibri thalassinus
• Purple-crowned Fairy Heliothryx barroti
• Brown Violetear Colibri delphinae
• Black-eared Fairy Heliothryx auritus
• Sparkling Violetear Colibri coruscans
• White-tailed Goldenthroat Polytmus guainumbi
• White-vented Violetear Colibri serrirostris
• Tepui Goldenthroat Polytmus milleri

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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