Woodnymph

Woodnymph
male violet-capped woodnymph
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Genus:	Thalurania Gould, 1848
Species
See text

Woodnymphs are hummingbirds in the genus Thalurania. Males are green and violet-blue, while females are green with white-tipped tails and at least partially whitish underparts. Both sexes have an almost straight, entirely black bill and little or no white post-ocular spot. They are found in forest (primarily humid) and tall second growth. The species in this genus are almost entirely allo- or parapatric, and a species is present virtually everywhere in the tropical humid Neotropics.

Species

In 2009 an additional species was described as the black-capped woodnymph (T. nigricapilla). It is reportedly restricted to Valle del Cauca in Colombia and lacks iridescence to its crown, but at present no official authority (beyond the describers themselves) recognize it as valid.

• Crowned woodnymph (Thalurania colombica)
  • Violet-crowned (or purple-crowned) woodnymph (Thalurania colombica colombica)
  • Green-crowned woodnymph (Thalurania colombica fannyi)
  • Emerald-bellied woodnymph (Thalurania colombica hypochlora)
• Fork-tailed woodnymph (Thalurania furcata)
• Violet-capped woodnymph (Thalurania glaucopis)
• Mexican woodnymph (Thalurania ridgwayi)
• Long-tailed woodnymph (Thalurania watertonii)

References

• Peterson, A. T., Stiles, F. G., and Schuchmann, K. L. 1999. Woodnymphs (Thalurania). pp. 585–586 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., and Sargatal, J. eds. 1999. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-25-3
• Valdés-Velásquez, A., Schuchmann, K. L. 2009. A new species of hummingbird (Thalurania; Trochilidae, Trochilinae) from the western Colombian Andes. Ornithologisher Anzeiger 48: 143-149

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