Bird Guide

Empress Brilliant vs Violet-fronted Brilliant

Empress Brilliant (Heliodoxa imperatrix)

Empress Brilliant

Heliodoxa imperatrix

Tiny9 gForest

Male empress brilliants are 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weigh about 9.3 g (0.33 oz). Females are 12 to 13.5 cm (4.7 to 5.3 in) long and weigh about 8.3 g (0.29 oz). The adult male's forehead, face, and breast are mostly glittering dark green, with a square glittering pale violet patch in the center of the throat. Its crown and nape are dark green and the rest of the upperparts dark bronzy green. Its belly is glittering golden green. The central tail feathers are dark bronze and the rest longer and black with a bronze gloss. The adult female's upperparts are bronzy green. Voice: One empress brilliant vocalization is a "repeated single 'tsit' note". It is also given singly while hovering and feeding.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Morten Ross · cc-by
Violet-fronted Brilliant (Heliodoxa leadbeateri)

Violet-fronted Brilliant

Heliodoxa leadbeateri

Tiny7 gForest

The violet-fronted brilliant is 11 to 13 cm (4.3 to 5.1 in) long. Males weigh 7.1 to 8.5 g (0.25 to 0.30 oz) and females 6.6 to 7.5 g (0.23 to 0.26 oz). Both sexes have a medium length, almost straight, black bill, a white malar streak, and a small white spot behind the eye. They both have a forked tail but the female's is less deeply indented than the male's. Males of the nominate subspecies have bronzy green upperparts with a glittering blue forehead and a coppery neck. They have a glittering emerald green gorget and a dull bronzy green breast and belly. Voice: What is thought to be the violet-brilliant's song is "a continuous series of single strident 'chup' or 'tchep' notes". It also makes "a repeated, bright, descending phrase 'whee-tsee-tsee-tsew' that sounds like a jerky twittering."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ana Agreda, Aves y Conservación · Public domain

Where you might meet both

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: Empress Brilliant and Violet-fronted Brilliant.