Heliothryx

Heliothryx
Purple-crowned fairy (Heliothryx barroti)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Subfamily: Polytminae
Genus: Heliothryx
F. Boie, 1831
Type species
Trochilus auritus (black-eared fairy)
Species

2, see text

Heliothryx is a genus of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. The genus is assigned to the subfamily Polytminae which is sometimes referred to by the informal name "mangoes".

Taxonomy

The genus Heliothryx was introduced in 1831 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.[1] Boie did not specify the type species but this was designated as the black-eared fairy by George Robert Gray in 1840.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek hēlios meaning "sun" with thrix meaning "hair".[4]

The genus contains the following two species:[5]

Physical Description and Habitat

Heliothryx hummingbirds are vibrant, medium-sized birds of tropical lowlands, favoring forest edges, clearings, and gardens. They have emerald-green upperparts, snow-white underparts, and white tail feathers, with sharp black bills perfectly designed to extract nectar. Males have a purple crown, absent in females, who have longer tails.[6]

Genus Heliothryx – F. Boie, 1831 – two species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Black-eared fairy

Heliothryx auritus
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)

Three subspecies
  • H. a. auritus (Gmelin, JF, 1788) – southeast Colombia and east Ecuador through Venezuela, the Guianas and north Brazil
  • H. a. phainolaemus Gould, 1855 – north-central Brazil (south of the Amazon)
  • H. a. auriculatus (Nordmann, 1835) – east Peru to central Bolivia and central, east Brazil
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Purple-crowned fairy

Heliothryx barroti
(Bourcier, 1843) 		southeastern Mexico south to southwestern Ecuador.
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 



References

  1. ^ Boie, Friedrich (1831). "Bemerkungen über Species und einige ornithologische Familien und Sippen". Isis von Oken (in German). Cols 538–548 [547].
  2. ^ Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 14.
  3. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 126.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Purple-crowned Fairy - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2025-01-09.


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