- Lampornis calolaemus
Alternative name(s): Purple-throated Mountaingem
Identification
10–11·5 cm (4-4½ in)
- Dark straight bill
- Longish tail
- Dark auriculars
- Whitish Post-ocular stripe
Male
- Green overall plumage
- Purple gorget
Female
- Green upperparts
- Pale rufous underparts
Similar species
White-throated Mountain-gem: female can probably not be safely separated in the field within Panama, but in Costa Rica, the local subspecies of White+thoated MG has a paler, grayish tail in both sexes.
Distribution
Central America: found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
Taxonomy
The scientific name has sometimes been given as Lampornis calolaema. Purple-throated Mountain-gem has in the past been placed in genus Oreopyra. Some authorities consider Purple-throated Mountain-gem a part of White-throated Mountain-gem.
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- L. c. pectoralis:
- Mountains of Nicaragua and north-western Costa Rica
- L. c. calolaemus:
- Mountains of Costa Rica and west-central Panama
- L. c. homogenes:
- Pacific slope of extreme southern Costa Rica and western Panama
Habitat
Wet subtropical forests.
Behaviour
Diet
Not a lot of detail known, but probably very similar to that of White-throated Mountain-gem.
Breeding
Their deep cup nest is formed from plant down and other fine materials. Breeding is timed mostly during the rainy season.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2019)
- Neotropical Birds
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Purple-throated Mountain-gem. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Purple-throated_Mountain-gem
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
