Black-throated Brilliant (Heliodoxa schreibersii)

Order: Apodiformes  | Family: Trochilidae | IUCN Status: Least Concern

black-throated_brilliant
Age: Adult  | Sex: Males | Loc. Northeast Peru

black-throated_brilliant
Age: Adult  | Sex: Females | Loc. Northeast Peru

black-throated_brilliant
Age: Adult  | Sex: Males | Loc. SE Ec | NE Peru

black-throated_brilliant
Age: Adult & Juvenile | Sex: Female | Unknown | Loc. NE Peru | SE Ecuador


Identification & Behavior: ~12.5 cm (5 in). The male Black-throated Brilliant is green above and black below with a purple iridescent patch on the throat (whitelyana), bordered by iridescent green below the patch (Schreibersii). The female is mostly green with a black throat bordered below by a purple iridescent patch. The tail is blue and forked, deeper in the male. The underparts look all black in poor light. The plumage is the Black-throated Brilliant is distinctive, but see Violet-fronted Brilliant and the male Black throated Mango in parts of its range.

Status: The Black-throated Brilliant is uncommon in isolated populations along the foothill of the Andes in most of Peru (600-1200 m). It ranges lower onto the Amazonian lowlands in the extreme northeast portion of the country. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Br.

Name in Spanish: Brillante de Garganta Negra.

Sub-species: Black-throated Brilliant (Heliodoxa schreibersii schreibersii), Bourcier, 1847. SE Colombia to Ecuador, NE Peru, and nw Amazonian Brazil.
(Heliodoxa schreibersii whitelyana), Gould, 1872. East Andes of Peru.

Meaning of Name: Heliodoxa: Gr. Hēlios= sun and doxa= glory, magnificence. schreibersii: In honor of Karl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers (1775-1852) Austrian zoologist, Director of Imperial Mus. of Natural History, Vienna.

See more of the Family Trochilidae   peru aves

Distribution Map

black-throated brilliantVoice


References:

    • Species range based on: Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, and L. Rico. 2006. Distribution maps of the birds of Peru, version 1.0. Environment, Culture & Conservation (ECCo). The Field Museum.  http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/uw_test/birdsofperu on 08/01/2015.