Tourmaline Sunangel

Overview

The tourmaline sunangel (Heliangelus exortis) is a species of hummingbird within the coquettes tribe of the subfamily Lesbiinae. It is a monotypic species found in Colombia and Ecuador, though it has occasionally been considered conspecific with the flame-throated sunangel.

Identification

• Size: 10 to 11 cm long, with males weighing 3.5–8.5 g and females 4–5.2 g.
• Plumage: Dark shining green upperparts and dusky gray underparts with round green spots; adult males display a glittering green frontlet, dark purple-blue chin, and rosy pink gorget with an emerald green border, while females lack the frontlet and have a whitish throat with green or dusky speckles.
• Bill: Blackish, straight, and of medium length.
• Vocalization: Song consists of a repeated series of high-pitched upslurred notes followed by lower-pitched downslurred notes; calls include a short dry gravelly trill and a continuous dry chatter.

Habitat

Found in the Andes of Colombia and on the eastern slope of Ecuador to Morona-Santiago Province, primarily between elevations of 2,300 and 3,400 m, though occasionally as low as 1,500 m. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid to wet premontane forest, especially cloudforest and elfin forest, as well as bushy clearings and shrubby pastures.

Diet

Feeds on nectar from a variety of flowering plants, usually low to the ground, often clinging to flowers rather than hovering. Also captures insects by hawking from a perch and gleaning from vegetation.

Did you know?

The breeding season spans from March to August, during which the female incubates a clutch of two white eggs, though little else is known about the species' breeding phenology.