Bird Guide

Black-throated Brilliant vs Brazilian Ruby

Black-throated Brilliant (Heliodoxa schreibersii)

Black-throated Brilliant

Heliodoxa schreibersii

Tiny9 gForest

The nominate subspecies H. s. schreibersii of black-throated brilliant is 11.5 to 13 cm (4.5 to 5.1 in) long. Males weigh about 9.9 g (0.35 oz) and females 7.1 to 8.5 g (0.25 to 0.30 oz). Both have an almost straight dark bill about 2.8 cm (1.1 in) long and a small white spot behind the eye. The male has shining green upperparts with a glittering green forehead. Its underparts are black with a small glittering purple patch and narrow glittering green band on the lower throat. The steel blue tail is very long and deeply forked. Voice: What is thought to be the song of the nominate black-throated brilliant is "a repeated, drawn-out, descending reeling trill of c. 4–5 seconds." It also makes single "chup" notes. The presumed song of H. s. whitelyana is a similar trill lasting about 3 seconds, but there are too few recordings to be sure if it is truly different from the nominate's.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ana Agreda, Aves y Conservación · Public domain
Brazilian Ruby (Heliodoxa rubricauda)

Brazilian Ruby

Heliodoxa rubricauda

Tiny8 g

The Brazilian ruby is 10.8 to 11.3 cm (4.3 to 4.4 in) long. Males weigh 7 to 9.2 g (0.25 to 0.32 oz) and females 5.9 to 7.1 g (0.21 to 0.25 oz). Both sexes have a medium-length black bill and a white spot behind the eye. Adult males have an iridescent emerald green forehead and crown, a green nape, and a golden bronze back and rump. The chin is blackish, the gorget shining ruby red, the breast iridescent emerald green, and the belly dark gray with green speckles. The central tail feathers are golden bronze and the rest rufous with bronze edges. Voice: The Brazilian ruby's song is described as "jig chrrrrrr....jig cherrrrrr...jig chrrrrrr". It also makes a "jig jig jig" call.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ben Tavener · CC BY 2.0

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-throated Brilliant and Brazilian Ruby.