The bronzy inca (Coeligena coeligena) is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The bronzy inca and most other members of genus Coeligena were at one time placed in genus Helianthea but have been in their current placement since the mid-1900s. The species has these six subspecies:
C. c. ferruginea (Chapman, 1917) – west, central Colombia
C. c. columbiana (Elliot, DG, 1876) – east, central Colombia and northwest Venezuela
C. c. coeligena (Lesson, RP, 1833) – north Venezuela
C. c. zuliana Phelps, WH & Phelps, WH Jr, 1953 – Serranía del Perijá (northeast Colombia and west Venezuela)
C. c. obscura (Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1902) – south Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
C. c. boliviana (Gould, 1861) – central, southeast Bolivia
Bronzy Inca, photo taken at San Isidro Lodge (east slope), Ecuador.
Description
The bronzy inca is about 14 cm (5.5 in) long. Males weigh about 7.3 g (0.26 oz) and females about 6.2 g (0.22 oz). Males have a long, straight, black bill, often with some yellow at the base of the mandible; the female's bill is also straight and black but somewhat longer. The species is the drabbest member of genus Coeligena, some others of which are rather dramatically plumaged.
Adult males of the nominate subspecies are mostly dark bronzy brown with a maroon sheen above; the lower back is greenish. They have a white spot behind the eye. Their throat and chest have white spots and dusky gray streaks, and the rest of the underparts are reddish brown. The forked tail is bronze. Adult nominate females are essentially the same as males but for bill length and a less forked tail, and juveniles resemble the adult female.
Subspecies C. c. zuliana is slightly more greenish and less bronzy than the nominate. C. c. columbiana is smaller than the nominate and has more of an olive shade. C. c. ferruginea is...
