Longuemare's Sunangel vs Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Heliangelus clarisse compared with Archilochus colubris
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Longuemare's Sunangel | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Heliangelus clarisse | Archilochus colubris |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Trochilidae | Trochilidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | 8.5 cm (3.3 in) |
| Wingspan | 12.5 cm (4.9 in) | 11.0 cm (4.3 in) |
| Weight | 5.5 g (0.19 oz) | 3.1 g (0.11 oz) |
| Diet | Nectarivore of Andean elfin forest; visits Brachyotum and Ericaceae flowers. Catches small flies near flowering … | Nectar from tubular flowers, supplemented with small insects and spiders for protein. Feeds at over … |
| Clutch Size | 2 | 2 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Deciduous and mixed forests, woodland edges, gardens, and parks with flowering plants. Migrates across the Gulf of Mexico.
Song & Call Comparison
Longuemare's Sunangel
Bright, musical chips in rapid succession; cheerful staccato notes with buoyant quality announcing territory boundaries.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Soft, high-pitched chattering and twittering 'chee-dit'. Also produces a thin 'tik' call in flight. Wing beats create an audible high-pitched humming buzz during hovering.
Geographic Range & Migration
Longuemare's Sunangel
Endemic to the Venezuelan Andes in Mérida and Táchira states in cloud forest. 2,000–3,200 m elevation.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern North America from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast. Winters in Central America and southern Mexico.
Conservation Status
Longuemare's Sunangel
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
How to Tell Them Apart
Longuemare's Sunangel
Scaled Metaltail: males with glittering violet gorget; metallic green crown; white pectoral tufts; females with scaled underparts below
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Metallic green upperparts and greyish-white underparts. Males have a brilliant iridescent ruby-red gorget that appears black in poor light. Females lack the gorget.
Long, straight, thin black bill adapted for probing flowers
About These Birds
Longuemare's Sunangel
A small hummingbird (10-11 cm) found in Andean cloud forests of Venezuela and Colombia at 1,800-3,000 m. Males have an iridescent green and purple throat. Green plumage. Nectarivore of montane forest undergrowth. Named after the French ornithologist Longuemare.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only breeding hummingbird in eastern North America. These tiny birds beat their wings about 53 times per second and can fly backwards, sideways, and even briefly upside down. They make an extraordinary non-stop 800 km crossing of the Gulf of Mexico during migration.