Heliangelus clarisse
The Longuemare's Sunangel, *Heliangelus clarisse*, is a striking medium-sized hummingbird, typically measuring 10-11 cm (4-4.3 inches) in length and weighing approximately 4-5 grams. Males are particularly resplendent, sporting a dazzling, glittering green gorget that can appear coppery or golden in certain lights, contrasting sharply with a broad, pure white breast band. Their crown often exhibits iridescent emerald-green feathers, while the underparts are generally dark dusky-green, and the...
This sunangel primarily inhabits humid montane cloud forests, forest borders, and dense shrubby growth at high elevations, often found along the edges of páramo. It thrives in cool, wet environments typically ranging from 1,800 to 3,500 meters (5,900 to 11,500 feet) above sea level.
The primary diet consists of nectar, collected from a wide variety of flowering plants, often including those with long corollas accessible only to long-billed species. They also supplement their diet with small insects and spiders, which they glean from foliage or catch in mid-air to provide ess...
Longuemare's Sunangels are diurnal and highly active during daylight hours, generally exhibiting a solitary nature outside of breeding interactions. They employ a "traplining" foraging strategy, visiting a regular circuit of flowering plants to extract nectar, often hovering with remarkable preci...
Longuemare's Sunangel is endemic to the Andes of South America, with a fragmented distribution spanning Colombia, Venezuela, and northern Ecuador. In Colombia, it is found across the Eastern and Central Andes, extending into the Sierra de Perijá near the Venezuelan border. Its Venezuelan range is...
Least Concern
- The species is named after M. Longuemare, a French amateur ornithologist who collected the type specimen. - Like many high-altitude hummingbirds, Longuemare's Sunangels can enter a state of torpor, drastically lowering their metabolic rate and body temperature to conserve energy during cold nig...