Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)

Golden-tailed Sapphire (Chrysuronia oenone) - HBW 5, p. 590

French: Saphir oenone German: Bronzeschwanz-Saphirkolibri Spanish: Zafiro Colidorado

Taxonomy: Ornismya œnone Lesson, 1832, Trinidad; probably error = north-east Venezuela.
Monotypic genus, sometimes merged into Hylocharis because of similarity in plumage, but lacks swollen base of bill and enlarged nasal operculum of that genus. Proposed type locality of Trinidad seems unlikely, as there are apparently no definite records with specific localities, and the species is not mentioned in any work on Trinidad birds during present century. Race alleni may not be adequately separable from josephinae. Several other races proposed: longirostris from E Colombia differs from nominate only in average bill length; azurea, supposedly from W .. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Ornismya œnone Lesson, 1832, Trinidad; probably error = north-east Venezuela.
Monotypic genus, sometimes merged into Hylocharis because of similarity in plumage, but lacks swollen base of bill and enlarged nasal operculum of that genus. Proposed type locality of Trinidad seems unlikely, as there are apparently no definite records with specific localities, and the species is not mentioned in any work on Trinidad birds during present century. Race alleni may not be adequately separable from josephinae. Several other races proposed: longirostris from E Colombia differs from nominate only in average bill length; azurea, supposedly from W Ecuador but no definite records thence (in fact, probably from E Ecuador), has characters of a subadult male of oenone; peruviana doubtfully distinct from josephinae; and intermedia of upper Amazonia probably of hybrid origin. “Thalurania lerchii”, known from Bogotá trade skins, is apparently a hybrid between present species and Thalurania furcata. Three subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • oenone (Lesson, 1832) - N & E Venezuela, E Colombia, E Ecuador, extreme NE Peru and adjacent extreme W Brazil.
  • josephinae (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1848) - most of E Peru.
  • alleni (Elliot, 1888) - N Bolivia.