Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)

Blue-tufted Starthroat (Heliomaster furcifer) - HBW 5, p. 665

French: Colibri d’Angèle German: Blaubartkolibri Spanish: Colibrí de Barbijo

Taxonomy: Trochilus Furcifer Shaw, 1812, Paraguay.
Formerly isolated as the only species in present genus, on basis of forked tail, pointed rectrices and details of bill morphology, the remaining three species being placed in genera Anthoscenus and Lepidolarynx; however, the distinguishing features vary in a continuum between present species and H. constantii and H. longirostris, with H. squamosus occupying an intermediate position, and treatment of all four as congeners now generally accepted; some authors also merge Rhodopis. Monotypic.

Distribution: C & E Bolivia (from Cochabamba and Tarija), Paraguay and C & S Brazil (Mato Grosso and Goiás to Rio Grande do Sul) S to Uruguay and N Argentina (S to Catamarca, Córdoba and N Buenos Aires). Single records from SE Colombia (Leticia) and NE Ecuador (E Napo).