Rufous-webbed Brilliant (Heliodoxa branickii)

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

rufous-webbed-brilliant
Age: Adult | Sex: Male | Loc. Digital painting

rufous-webbed-brilliant
Age: Adult | Sex: Female |  Loc. Southeast Peru


Identification & Behavior: ~11.5 cm (4.5 in). The male Rufous-webbed Brilliant is mostly dark green with a pink iridescent gorget. The female is green above and whitish-gray on the throat and center of the breast and belly. It has a rudimentary pink gorget on the throat. The tail in both sexes is slightly notched and blue, with white tips on the outer tail feathers of the female.  The vent or undertail coverts in both sexes are white.  Both sexes show rufous webbing in the base of mostly the secondary flight feathers, which is visible with the bird in hand or when it is preening. Both sexes are similar to the closely related Pink-throated  Brilliant, but their ranges are not known to overlap.

Status: The Rufous-webbed Brilliant is rare and local in humid montane forest in the central and southeastern Andes at elevations ranging between 650-1700 m. It also occurs in Bo.

Name in Spanish: Brillante de Ala Canela.

Sub-species: Rufous-webbed Brilliant (Heliodoxa branickii), Taczanowski, 1874.

Meaning of Name: Heliodoxa: Gr. Hēlios= sun and doxa= glory, magnificence. branickii: In honor of Konstanty Grzegorz Graf von Branicki (1824-1884) Polish zoologist, collector, who planned to found a museum.

See more of the Family Trochilidae   peru aves

Distribution Map
rufous-webbed 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.