Bird Guide

Longuemare's Sunangel vs Tourmaline Sunangel

Longuemare's Sunangel (Heliangelus clarisse)

Longuemare's Sunangel

Heliangelus clarisse

Tiny5 gForest

Longuemare's sunangel is 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) long and weighs 5.0 to 6.0 g (0.18 to 0.21 oz). It has a short (less than 2 cm (0.79 in)), straight, blackish bill. The adult male of the nominate H. c. clarisse has a narrow glittering blue-green frontlet just above the bill, a dusky crown, and dark bronzy green upperparts. Its throat and upper breast gorget is glittering rosy and has a white pectoral band below it. The rest of the underparts are dusky buff with round green spots. The inner tail feathers are dark bronzy green and the outer ones blackish and occasionally have pale tips.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Reizo Knapp · CC BY 4.0
Tourmaline Sunangel (Heliangelus exortis)

Tourmaline Sunangel

Heliangelus exortis

Tiny5 gForest

The tourmaline sunangel is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long. Males weigh 3.5 to 8.5 g (0.12 to 0.30 oz) and females 4 to 5.2 g (0.14 to 0.18 oz). Their bill is blackish, straight, and of medium length. Both sexes have dark shining green upperparts and dusky gray underparts with round green spots. Their tails' central feathers are dark bronze and the others blackish. Adult males have a glittering green frontlet just above the bill, a dark purple-blue chin, and a glittering rosy pink gorget with a glittering emerald green border below it. Voice: A vocalization believed to be the tourmaline sunangel's song is "a repeated series of single notes...typically a few high-pitched upslurred notes followed by a slightly lower-pitched downslurred note, 'suwee....suwee..tsew...suwee...tsew...'." Its call is "a short dry gravelly trill 'trrr', repeated at intervals" and it also makes a continuous dry chatter.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Laura Gaudette · CC BY 4.0

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: Longuemare's Sunangel and Tourmaline Sunangel.