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Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)

Green-fronted Lancebill (Doryfera ludovicae) - HBW 5, p. 549

French: Porte-lance de Louise German: Grünstirn-Lanzettschnabel Spanish: Colibrí Picolanza Mayor

Taxonomy: Trochilus ludovicæ Bourcier and Mulsant, 1847, Buena Vista, east Andes above Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia.
Genus formerly placed in subfamily Phaethornithinae, due largely to confusion regarding its nest; now known to be part of the basal radiation of the Trochilinae; in many older works generic name Hemistephania was used. Two proposed races, rectirostris (W Andes of Colombia and NW Ecuador) and grisea (NW Bolivia), now usually subsumed into nominate race; former differs only in bill averaging longer, but with wide overlap, and latter based on characters of an immature male, birds of this age being indistinguishable from those of nominate. Species name sometimes misspelt l.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Trochilus ludovicæ Bourcier and Mulsant, 1847, Buena Vista, east Andes above Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia.
Genus formerly placed in subfamily Phaethornithinae, due largely to confusion regarding its nest; now known to be part of the basal radiation of the Trochilinae; in many older works generic name Hemistephania was used. Two proposed races, rectirostris (W Andes of Colombia and NW Ecuador) and grisea (NW Bolivia), now usually subsumed into nominate race; former differs only in bill averaging longer, but with wide overlap, and latter based on characters of an immature male, birds of this age being indistinguishable from those of nominate. Species name sometimes misspelt ludoviciae. Two subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • veraguensis Salvin, 1867 - NC Costa Rica to W Panama.
  • ludovicae (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1847) - extreme E Panama (Cerro Tacarcuna), Colombia and W Venezuela S through Andes to NW Bolivia (E slope only from C Ecuador southwards).

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