Little Sunangel

Heliangelus micraster Gould, 1872

Spanish: Colibrí Lucero · IOC: Flame-throated sunangel

The Little Sunangel (Heliangelus micraster) is a hummingbird in the subfamily Lesbiinae (coquettes and brilliants), tribe Lesbiini (coquettes). It weighs about 3.9 g and its bill is 16.5 mm long. It lives in Ecuador and Peru. Its IUCN Red List status is Least concern, with a decreasing population.

See it in the explorer eBird page ↗

At a glance

Weight

3.9 g, about 4 paperclips

Bill

16.5 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 Lesbiini coquettes
4. Genus Heliangelus sunangels

What Heliangelus share: Most males have a glittering throat patch (gorget).

Where it lives · 2 countries

• Ecuador
• Peru

Others in the genus Heliangelus

• Tourmaline Sunangel Heliangelus exortis
• Purple-throated Sunangel Heliangelus viola
• Gorgeted Sunangel Heliangelus strophianus
• Royal Sunangel Heliangelus regalis
• Amethyst-throated Sunangel Heliangelus amethysticollis
• Merida Sunangel Heliangelus spencei
• Longuemare's Sunangel Heliangelus clarisse
• Orange-throated Sunangel Heliangelus mavors

Sources

Names: eBird/Clements Checklist (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), IOC World Bird List. 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.

Spotted a mistake, or have a photo of this species? Write to Lia