Family Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Least Concern
Ecuadorian Hillstar (Oreotrochilus chimborazo)
Taxonomy
French: Colibri du Chimborazo German: Ecuador-Andenkolibri Spanish: Colibrí del Chimborazo
Taxonomy:
Trochilus Chimborazo
DeLattre and Bourcier
, 1846,Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador
.Thought to be closely related to O. estella, O. stolzmanni and O. leucopleurus; all four have been considered conspecific; separated largely on morphological grounds. Race soderstromi sometimes thought to be an intergrade of jamesonii and nominate, but is apparently isolated geographically from both of them; nonetheless, it indicates clinality in the species, and reduces distinctiveness of jamesonii, with its lack of green throat patch (score reduced by soderstromi to 2) and less white in outer tail (1). Three subspecies recognized.
What do (1) and (2) mean? Learn more about the scoring system.
Subspecies and Distribution
O. c. jamesonii
Jardine, 1849 – Violet-hooded Hillstar – mountains of extreme S Colombia (Nariño) and N Ecuador (Cotacachi, Pichincha, Illiniza, Antisana and Cotopaxi, S to Azuay).
O. c. soderstromi
Lönnberg & Rendahl, 1922 – C Ecuador (Mt Quilotoa, in C Cotopaxi).
O. c. chimborazo
(DeLattre & Bourcier, 1846) – Chimborazo Hillstar – C Ecuador (Mt Chimborazo).
Descriptive notes
13 cm; 7·8–8·1 g. Bill black, slightly curved. Male upperparts dark olive-green; entire head and upper throat covered by a glittering purplish-blue hood,... read more
Voice
Calls include a repeated short “tsit” and a strident “tseek”. Also a fast melodious twittering with... read more
Habitat
Inhabits highest vegetated zones up to snow-line at elevations of 3500–5200 m. This high-... read more
Food and feeding
Territorial and notably aggressive. Often perches conspicuously on top of a shrub for long periods, but uses lower and more protected... read more
Breeding
Mainly Oct–Feb (jamesonii), but nests found throughout the year. The nest consists of moss, roots, dry grass, feathers,... read more
Movements
Some altitudinal movements have been observed, possibly as an adaptation to the harsh highland... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. CITES II. Fairly common; typical habitat is not subject to a high level of degradation, and species also accepts man-made environments. Occurs in... read more
subspecies
Please see Rodríguez & Bonaccorso recent (2016) paper on the evolutionary history of this species. They found that soderstromi does not deserve recognition.
DOI: 10.1080/23766808.2016.1155280