Coeligena is a genus of South American hummingbirds. Species in the genus are commonly called incas or starfrontlets.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Bronzy inca | Coeligena coeligena | North Venezuela to southeast Bolivia |
.jpg) | Brown inca | Coeligena wilsoni | West Colombia to west Ecuador |
.jpg) | Black inca | Coeligena prunellei | North-central Colombia |
.jpg) | Green inca | Coeligena conradii | Northeast Colombia and northwest Venezuela (Trujillo to north Táchira) |
 | Collared inca | Coeligena torquata | Northwest Venezuela and Colombia to south Peru |
.jpeg) | 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 |
.jpg) | White-tailed starfrontlet | Coeligena phalerata | Northeast Colombia |
.jpg) | Dusky starfrontlet | Coeligena orina | North-central Colombia |
.jpg) | Buff-winged starfrontlet | Coeligena lutetiae | Colombia to Peru |
.jpg) | Perija starfrontlet | Coeligena consita | Perijá Mountains (Colombia-Venezuela border) |
.jpg) | Golden-bellied starfrontlet | Coeligena bonapartei | East Colombia |
_(2).jpg) | Golden-tailed starfrontlet | Coeligena eos | West Venezuela |
_male_Cundinamarca_2.jpg) | Blue-throated starfrontlet | Coeligena helianthea | Northeast Colombia and west Venezuela |
References
- ↑ "Trochilidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 98.
- ↑ Jobling, James A. "Coeligena". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 115.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
