Green-headed hillstar
The green-headed hillstar (Oreotrochilus stolzmanni) is a species of hummingbird found in the Andes in far southern Ecuador and northern and central Peru in alpine grassland and scrub at altitudes of 3,600 to 4,200 metres (11,800 to 13,800 ft).[2]
| Green-headed hillstar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Trochilidae |
| Genus: | Oreotrochilus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | O. e. stolzmanni |
| Trinomial name | |
| Oreotrochilus estella stolzmanni Salvin, 1895 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Oreotrochilus stolzmanni | |
It was traditionally considered a subspecies of the Andean hillstar, Oreotrochilus estella, but it is increasingly treated as a separate species based on differences in genetics and plumage.[2][3] It is more closely related to the blue-throated hillstar and black-breasted hillstar than the Andean hillstar.[3] Females of these are very similar, but the males are easily separated. The male blue-throated hillstar has a blue throat and the male black-breasted hillstar has almost entirely black underparts. Compared to the Andean hillstar, the male green-headed hillstar has a brighter green head and a black (not brown) line to the central underparts.[2]
The binomial name commemorates Polish ornithologist Jan Sztolcman (Jean Stanislaus Stolzmann).
References
- BirdLife International 2016. Oreotrochilus stolzmanni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T60946473A95164756. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T60946473A95164756.en. Downloaded on 24 June 2019.
- Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 5, J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Barcelona, 1999.
- Sornoza-Molina, F., J. F. Freile, J. Nilsson, N. Krabbe & E. Bonaccorso. 2018. A striking, critically endangered, new species of hillstar (Trochilidae: Oreotrochilus) from the southwestern Andes of Ecuador. Auk 135(4): 1146–1171.