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Heliodoxa

Heliodoxa is a genus of hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae.

Last revised
Jul 29, 2026
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Heliodoxa
male green-crowned brilliant, Heliodoxa jacula
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Tribe: Heliantheini
Genus: Heliodoxa
Gould, 1850
Type species
Trochilus leadbeateri (violet-fronted brilliant)
Bourcier, 1843

Heliodoxa is a genus of hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae.

Taxonomy

The genus Heliodoxa was introduced in 1850 by the English ornithologist John Gould.1 The genus name combines the Ancient Greek hēlios meaning "sun" and doxa meaning "glory" or "magnificence".2 The type species was subsequently designated by Charles Lucien Bonaparte as the violet-fronted brilliant.34

The genus contains ten species:5

Genus Heliodoxa – Gould, 1850 – ten species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Gould's jewelfront

 Heliodoxa aurescens
(Gould, 1846) 		Brazil, central Ecuador and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Brazilian ruby


Male

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Female

Heliodoxa rubricauda
(Boddaert, 1783) 		Brazil (Bahia south to Rio Grande do Sul)
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Fawn-breasted brilliant

 Heliodoxa rubinoides
(Bourcier & Mulsant, 1846)

Three subspecies
  • H. r. aequatorialis
  • H. r. cervinigularis
  • H. r. rubinoides
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Violet-fronted brilliant


Male

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Female

Heliodoxa leadbeateri
(Bourcier, 1843)

Four subspecies
 Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Velvet-browed brilliant

 Heliodoxa xanthogonys
Salvin & Godman, 1882

Two subspecies
  • H. x. xanthogonys
  • H. x. williardi
Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Black-throated brilliant

 Heliodoxa schreibersii
(Bourcier, 1847)

Two subspecies
  • H. s. schreibersii
  • H. s. whitelyana
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Pink-throated brilliant Heliodoxa gularis
(Gould, 1860) 		Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Rufous-webbed brilliant Heliodoxa branickii
(Taczanowski, 1874) 		Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Empress brilliant

 Heliodoxa imperatrix
(Gould, 1856) 		Colombia and Ecuador
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Green-crowned brilliant

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Male

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Female

Heliodoxa jacula
(Gould, 1850)

Three subspecies
  • H. j. jacula
  • H. j. henryi
  • H. j. jamersoni
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


References

References

  1. Gould, John (1849). "Description of two new species with the characters of a new genus of the Trochilidae". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 17 (195) (published 1850): 95–96.
  2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1850). "Note sur les Trochilidés". Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 30: 379–383 [380].
  4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 87.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 January 2020.