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Chalcostigma

Chalcostigma is a genus of South American hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
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Chalcostigma
Rainbow-bearded thornbill (Chalcostigma herrani)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Tribe: Lesbiini
Genus: Chalcostigma
Reichenbach, 1854
Type species
Ornismya heteropogon
Species

5, see text

Chalcostigma is a genus of South American hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus Chalcostigma was introduced in 1854 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.1 The type species was subsequently designated as the bronze-tailed thornbill by George Gray.23 The name of the genus is derived from the Greek khalkos meaning bronze and stigme for a spot or mark, a reference to the beard on the bronze-tailed thornbill.4

The genus contains the following five species:5

Genus Chalcostigma – Reichenbach, 1854 – five species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Rufous-capped thornbill

 Chalcostigma ruficeps
(Gould, 1846) 		Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Olivaceous thornbill Chalcostigma olivaceum
(Lawrence, 1864) 		Bolivia and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Blue-mantled thornbill

 Chalcostigma stanleyi
(Bourcier, 1851)

Three subspecies
  • C. s. stanleyi (Bourcier, 1851)
  • C. s. versigulare (Zimmer, 1924)
  • C. s. vulcani (Gould, 1852)
Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Bronze-tailed thornbill

 Chalcostigma heteropogon
(Boissonneau, 1840) 		Colombia and Venezuela
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Rainbow-bearded thornbill


Male

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Female

Chalcostigma herrani
(Delattre & Bourcier, 1846)

Two subspecies
 Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 



References

References

  1. Reichenbach, Ludwig (1854). "Aufzählung der Colibris Oder Trochilideen in ihrer wahren natürlichen Verwandtschaft, nebst Schlüssel ihrer Synonymik". Journal für Ornithologie (Supplement) (in German). 1: 1–24 [12].
  2. Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 141.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 121.
  4. Jobling, James A. (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-19-854634-3.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 January 2021.