Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)

Purple-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica) - HBW 5, p. 585

French: Dryade couronnée German: Violettkronennymphe Spanish: Zafiro Coroniazul
Other common names: Violet-crowned/Crowned Woodnymph; Colombian Woodnymph (colombica); Blue-crowned Woodnymph (townsendi)

Taxonomy: Ornismya colombica Bourcier, 1843, San Agustín, Magdalena Valley, Colombia.
Forms a superspecies with T. ridgwayi, T. fannyi and T. furcata; species limits unclear, and all four have been considered conspecific. Alternatively, purple-crowned present species often treated as conspecific with blue-crowned T. ridgwayi, and sometimes also with green-crowned T. fannyi, forming a group with glittering crowns and more violet on back, as opposed to mostly dull-crowned, green-backed forms of T. furcata. Lump of present species with T. fannyi supported by their close similarity, and also by blue feathering at rear of crown in T. fannyi, a feature decreasing with distance from adjacent purple-crowned forms of present species; females too are very similar. Race hypochlora of T. fannyi may belong in present species. Race rostrifera may be inseparable from nominate. Race townsendi (with venusta) might be approaching separate species status. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

townsendi Ridgway, 1888 - E Guatemala to SE Honduras.
venusta (Gould, 1851) - E Nicaragua to C Panama.
colombica (Bourcier, 1843) - N Colombia (S to head of Magdalena Valley) and NW Venezuela.
rostrifera Phelps & Phelps, Jr., 1956 - NW Venezuela (SW Táchira).