Coeligena

Coeligena
Collared inca (C. torquata)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Strisores
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Tribe:	Heliantheini
Genus:	Coeligena Lesson, 1833
Type species
Ornismya coeligena [1] Lesson, 1833
Species
see text

Coeligena is a genus of South American hummingbirds.

Taxonomy

The genus Coeligena was introduced in 1833 by the French naturalist René Lesson with the type species by tautonymy as Ornismya coelinga Lesson, the bronzy inca. ^{[2] [3]} The genus name is from Latin coeligenus meaning "heaven-born" or "celestial". ^[4]

Species

The genus contains the following 15 species: ^[5]

Image	Common Name	Scientific Name	Distribution
	Bronzy inca	Coeligena coeligena	north Venezuela to southeast Bolivia
	Brown inca	Coeligena wilsoni	west Colombia to west Ecuador
	Black inca	Coeligena prunellei	north-central Colombia
	Green inca	Coeligena conradii	northeast Colombia and northwest Venezuela (Trujillo to north Táchira)
	Collared inca	Coeligena torquata	northwest Venezuela and Colombia to south Peru
	Gould's inca	Coeligena inca	southeast Peru to Bolivia
	Violet-throated starfrontlet	Coeligena violifer	north Peru to northwest Bolivia
	Rainbow starfrontlet	Coeligena iris	Ecuador and Peru
	White-tailed starfrontlet	Coeligena phalerata	northeast Colombia
	Dusky starfrontlet	Coeligena orina	north-central Colombia
	Buff-winged starfrontlet	Coeligena lutetiae	Colombia to Peru
	Perija starfrontlet	Coeligena consita	Perijá Mountains (Colombia-Venezuela border)
	Golden-bellied starfrontlet	Coeligena bonapartei	east Colombia
	Golden-tailed starfrontlet	Coeligena eos	west Venezuela
	Blue-throated starfrontlet	Coeligena helianthea	northeast Colombia and west Venezuela

References

1. "Trochilidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
2. Lesson, René P. (n.d.). Les Trochilidées : ou, Les colibris et les oiseaux-mouches, suivis d'un Index général, dans lequel sont décrites et classées méthodiquement toutes les races et espèces du genre Trochilus (in French). Paris: Arthus Bertrand (published 1833). p. xviii. The work was published in 14 livraisons (sections). For the publication dates see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN   978-0-9568611-1-5.
3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 98.
4. Jobling, James A. "Coeligena". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 115.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 September 2025.