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Heliangelus
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Gorgeted Sunangel Heliangelus strophianus Scientific name definitions

Iris Heynen and Peter F. D. Boesman
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 1999

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

Like many hummingbirds in this genus, males have pink throats. In females, the pink is restricted or absent all together. Both males and females have a clean white chest band. While similar to the Amethyst-throated Sunangel (Heliangelus amethysticollis), Gorgeted Sunangels are found further north in South America. They favor damp ravines in humid and wet premontane forests, shrubby edges, and thickets. These solitary hummingbirds typically forage low in covered areas and seldom frequent open areas.

Field Identification

10–11 cm; 5·3 g. Blackish bill short and straight. Male dark, almost velvety green above with a small glittering green frontlet; genus-typical gorget glittering rose-coloured to violet bordered by a white pectoral bar below, rest of underparts dark green, towards belly increasingly speckled with dark grey; forked tail dark steel blue. Female resembles male but has gorget reduced or ­absent, instead the throat region is dark grey-brown with most of the feathers fringed with white, occasionally with some glittering rosy feathers. Juvenile like female but the white pectoral band is usually narrower.

Systematics History

Shares several characters with H. clarisse and H. amethysticollis, and may be closely related to those two. Described form H. violicollis, known only from two skins of unknown origin, usually considered an aberrant form of present species, though this may not be the case. Validity and possible affinities of other described forms known mainly or exclusively from Bogotá trade skins (including H. squamigularis, H. speciosus, H. simoni, H. rothschildi, H. prosantis, H. luminosus and, from Antioquia, H. barrali) unknown, but at least some could involve hybrids, and not necessarily related to present species. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

SW Colombia (Nariño) and W Ecuador.

Habitat

Mainly humid and wet pre-montane forest but can also be found at shrubby forest borders and thickets. Records range from 1200 m up to (rarely) 2800 m. Most records are from subtropical zones but locally the species also occurs in temperate zones.

Movement

No information available but some seasonal vertical movements likely.

Diet and Foraging

Usually seen alone, so probably territorial. In general seems to prefer damp bushy ravines. While foraging always stays near cover and rarely ventures into open areas. Mostly feeds at low flowers, less frequently visits flowers in the subcanopy region. No further information.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a repeated series of 2–3 high-pitched “pseee” notes (c. 8·5 kHz) followed by a slightly lower-pitched “tsip” note. Call is a dry chattering followed by a mellow note “kr..krr..krr..whee..”. Also a high-pitched twittering.

Breeding

Main season Oct–Dec; in SW Colombia, copulation recorded in Aug. Clutch two white eggs; incubation by female. No further information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. CITES II. Restricted-range species: present in Chocó EBA. Fairly common in Pichincha (Ecuador) but populations may have declined substantially in recent times due to habitat destruction. In NW Ecuadorian part of range, species protected by Ecological Reserve Cotacachi-Cayapas. In SW Colombia, fairly common in Volcán Chiles area; protected in La Planada Reserve, where apparently rare.
Distribution of the Gorgeted Sunangel - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Gorgeted Sunangel

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Heynen, I. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Gorgeted Sunangel (Heliangelus strophianus), 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.gorsun1.01
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