Heliangelus viola

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Superordo: Caprimulgimorphae
Ordo: Apodiformes

Familia: Trochilidae
Subfamilia: Trochilinae
Genus: Heliangelus
Species: Heliangelus viola
Subspecies;

Synonyms: H. v. pyropus – H. v. splendidus
included in nominal.

Name

Heliangelus viola Gould, 1853

Type locality: Banks of the Marañón, Peru.

Synonyms

Heliotrypha viola (Gould, 1853)

References

Gould, J. 1853. Description of five new species of Humming Birds. The Athenaeum. Journal of English and Foreign Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts no.1329 Internet archive p. 481 Reference page. [has priority over PZS pt.21 no.251 p. 61 BHL published 25 July 1854.]

Vernacular names
English: Purple-throated Sunangel
español: Colibrí violeta

The purple-throated sunangel (Heliangelus viola) is a species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.[3][4]
Taxonomy and systematics

The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) treat the purple-throated sunangel as monotypic. However, the Clements taxonomy splits it into three subspecies, H. v. viola, H. v. pyropus and H. v. splendidus.[3][4][5][6]
Description

The purple-throated sunangel is 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long and weighs 5.1 to 6.6 g (0.18 to 0.23 oz). It has a short, straight, blackish bill. Both sexes have shining green upperparts and green bellies. Their central tail feathers are shining green and the others blackish. Adult males have a glittering blue-green frontlet just above the bill and a deep violet iridescent gorget with a blue-green pectoral bar below it. Adult females lack the blue-green frontlet and iridescent gorget. Their throat is tawny to off-white with bronzy green speckles. Juveniles are similar to the adult female. The differences among the "Clements" subspecies are treated by the other taxonomic systems as being within the range of variation of the nominate.[7][5][6]
Distribution and habitat

The purple-throated sunangel is found on the west slope of the Andes from north-central Ecuador south into Peru as far as the departments of Cajamarca and Amazonas. When treated as separate subspecies, H. v. viola is found east of the Marañón River in northern Peru, H. v. pyropus in southern Ecuador and northwestern Peru, and H. v. splendidus in northern Peru west of the Marañón. The species inhabits a variety of landscapes including the interior and edges of cloudforest and secondary forest, alder (Alnus) woodlands, and shrubby areas. In elevation it ranges between 2,150 and 3,000 m (7,100 and 9,800 ft).[3][7]
Behavior
Movement

The purple-throated sunangel is sedentary.[7]
Feeding

The purple-throated sunangel feeds on nectar and insects. In parts of Ecuador it appears to be dependent on the introduced Eucalyptus globulus; at the least its distribution is correlated with that tree's altitudinal occurrence. It captures insects by hawking from a perch and by gleaning from vegetation.[7]
Breeding

The purple-throated sunangel's breeding season spans from October to January. The clutch of two white eggs is incubated by the female. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding phenology.

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to purple-throated sunangel on xeno-canto
Vocalization

The purple-throated sunangel's calls include "a loose series of short dry trills 'trr..tr..trr....trr..', and a repeated, drawn-out, dry, buzzy 'bzzzrrr'."[7]
Status

The IUCN has assessed the purple-throated sunangel as being of Least Concern. Though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable.[1] Though it has a relatively restricted range it is locally fairly common. It occurs in several protected areas.[7]

Utuana Reserve - Ecuador
Utuana Reserve - Ecuador
female / Utuana Reserve - Ecuador
female / Utuana Reserve - Ecuador
Utuana Reserve - Ecuador
Utuana Reserve - Ecuador

References

BirdLife International (2016). "Purple-throated Sunangel Heliangelus viola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22687898A93173861. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22687898A93173861.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
"Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P. (July 2021). "IOC World Bird List (v 12.1)". doi:10.14344/IOC.ML.11.2. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
HBW and BirdLife International (2020) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip [.xls zipped 1 MB] retrieved May 27, 2021
Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021
Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021
Heynen, I., P. F. D. Boesman, and A. Bonan (2020). Purple-throated Sunangel (Heliangelus viola), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.putsun1.01 retrieved January 22, 2022