Empress Brilliant
Heliodoxa imperatrix
Impressive hummingbird of Andean cloud forest in northwestern Ecuador and western Colombia. Large, thick-billed, and long-tailed, with golden sheen on the belly. Male has a violet throat patch, and female has white on throat and breast. Young birds have a rusty wash on face and throat. Favors very wet, epiphyte-laden forest, and visits feeders in some areas.
Identification
Male empress brilliants are 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weigh about 9.3 g (0.33 oz). Females are 12 to 13.5 cm (4.7 to 5.3 in) long and weigh about 8.3 g (0.29 oz). The adult male's forehead, face, and breast are mostly glittering dark green, with a square glittering pale violet patch in the center of the throat. Its crown and nape are dark green and the rest of the upperparts dark bronzy green. Its belly is glittering golden green. The central tail feathers are dark bronze and the rest longer and black with a bronze gloss. The adult female's upperparts are bronzy green. The center of its throat and breast are grayish with much bronzy green flecking, the flanks solid bronzy green, and the belly golden green. The central tail feathers are bronzy green and the others dull black with a bronze gloss.<p>Immature males have a dull dark bronzy green head, throat, and breast; bright buff chin and sides of the throat; and a duller and bronzier green belly than the adult. Immature females also have a buffy chin, and the green feathers of the breast are duller than the adult's and have buffy fringes.
Taxonomy
In the early part of the 20th century the empress brilliant was treated as the only member of genus Eugenia, which was later merged into the present Heliodoxa. The species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Heliodoxa imperatrix
- Authority
- (Gould, 1856)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Heliodoxa
Range and habitat
The empress brilliant is found on the Pacific slope of the Andes from Colombia's Chocó Department south into Ecuador as far as Pichincha Province. It inhabits a variety of very wet landscapes including foothill forest, the interior and edges of cloudforest, and mature secondary forest. In elevation it ranges from 400 to 2,000 m (1,300 to 6,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The movements of the empress brilliant, if any, have not been described.<p>Both sexes of empress brilliant forage from the mid-level to the forest canopy, and females also forage in the understorey. A primary source of nectar are the flowers of Marcgravia and Marcgraviastrum vines, where it perches to feed. It also feeds by hovering under drooping flowers of Ericaceae. In addition to feeding on nectar, it also captures small insects by gleaning from foliage and hawking from a perch.<p>The empress brilliant's breeding season spans from January to April. The few known nests were cups of tree fern scales and other plant material held together with spider silk and lined with soft seed fluff. Very little else is known about the species' breeding phenology.<p>One empress brilliant vocalization is a "repeated single 'tsit' note". It is also given singly while hovering and feeding.
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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