About Coeligena helianthea (R.Lesson, 1839)
Coeligena helianthea, commonly known as the blue-throated starfrontlet, is approximately 13 cm (5.1 in) long. Males weigh 7.1 to 7.6 g (0.25 to 0.27 oz), and females weigh 6 to 6.5 g (0.21 to 0.23 oz). Both sexes have a long, straight black bill and a white spot behind the eye, and both have bronzy black forked tails, though the female’s tail is less indented than the male’s. The species can appear entirely dark in poor light. Males of the nominate subspecies have a black head with a dark green forehead. Their upperparts are dark with an emerald green gloss, while their lower back and rump are dark blue with hints of violet. They have a dark iridescent violet throat, a dark gray breast with an emerald green sheen, and a rosy belly, vent area, and undertail coverts. Nominate subspecies females have a gray-green head including the forehead, and golden green upperparts that transition to a blue-violet rump; all of the female's colors are duller than the male's. The female's throat and breast are rufous, with green spots on the breast. The female's belly is rosy, and the undertail coverts are a paler rose. Males of subspecies C. h. tamai are very similar to nominate males but are duller overall, with bellies and undertail coverts that are more bluish than rosy. C. h. tamai females are essentially identical to nominate females. The nominate subspecies of blue-throated starfrontlet occurs in the northern and eastern Andes of Colombia, ranging from Serranía del Perijá (which spans the border between northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela) south and west to the Metropolitan Area of Bogotá. Subspecies C. h. tamai is found in the Tamá Massif in Táchira, a western Venezuelan state. This species inhabits the interior and edges of cloudforest and elfin forest, as well as shrubby slopes, and sometimes occupies bushy landscapes at the lower margin of páramo. It also occurs in flowering gardens. It is found at elevations ranging from 1,900 to 3,300 m (6,200 to 10,800 ft).
