View source for Violet-fronted brilliant

{{Short description|Species of hummingbird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Violet-fronted brilliant
| image = Violet-fronted Brilliant 2 JCB.jpg
| image_caption = male in eastern Ecuador
| image2 = Heliodoxa leadbeateri.jpg
| image2_caption = female from [[Cordillera del Cóndor]], [[Ecuador]].
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=Violet-fronted Brilliant ''Heliodoxa leadbeateri'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22687743A130121925 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22687743A130121925.en |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| genus = Heliodoxa
| species = leadbeateri
| authority = ([[Jules Bourcier|Bourcier]], 1843)
| synonyms =
| range_map = Heliodoxa leadbeateri map.svg
}}
The '''violet-fronted brilliant''' ('''''Heliodoxa leadbeateri''''') is a species of [[hummingbird]] in the "brilliants", tribe [[Heliantheini]] in subfamily [[Lesbiinae]]. It is found [[Bolivia]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]], and [[Venezuela]].<ref name=IOC12.1>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/hummingbirds/ |title=Hummingbirds |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 12.1 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1= F. |editor-last2=Donsker|editor-first2=D.|editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=January 2022 |access-date=January 15, 2022 }}</ref><ref name=HBW2020>HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip [.xls zipped 1 MB] retrieved 27 May 2021</ref>
==Taxonomy and systematics==
The violet-fronted brilliant has four subspecies:<ref name=IOC12.1/>
*''H. l. leadbeateri'' [[Jules Bourcier|Bourcier]] (1843)
*''H. l. parvula'' [[Hans von Berlepsch|Berlepsch]] (1888)
*''H. l. sagitta'' [[Ludwig Reichenbach|Reichenbach]] (1854)
*''H. l. otero'' [[Johann Jakob von Tschudi|Tschudi]] (1844)
==Description==
[[File:Violet-fronted Brilliant-m.jpg|thumb|left|Male ''H. l. otero'' - Cock-of-the Rock Lodge, Peru (flash photo)]]
[[File:Violet-fronted Brilliant-f.jpg|thumb|left|Female ''H. l. sagitta'' - Copa Linga Lodge, Ecuador (flash photo)]]
The violet-fronted brilliant is {{convert|11|to|13|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. Males weigh {{convert|7.1|to|8.5|g|oz|abbr=on}} and females {{convert|6.6|to|7.5|g|oz|abbr=on}}. Both sexes have a medium length, almost straight, black bill, a white [[Cheek|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.<ref name=VFBR-BOW>Heynen, I., P. F. D. Boesman, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Violet-fronted Brilliant (''Heliodoxa leadbeateri''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.vifbri1.01 retrieved 9 May 2022</ref>
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 (bird)|gorget]] and a dull bronzy green breast and belly. The central pair of tail feathers are bronzy green, the next pair steel blue with bronze tips, and the rest dark steel blue. Females have coppery green upperparts with a glittering green forehead. Their underparts are white transitioning to buffy on the belly, and the throat and breast are thickly spotted with glittering green. The tail feathers have white tips.<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
Males of subspecies ''H. l. parvula'' have a violet forehead and a paler and duller belly than the nominate. Their central tail feathers are lighter and greener than the nominate's and the rest more blackish. The female's belly has a cinnamon buff background. ''H. l. sagitta'' males have a blue forehead, a bluish breast, and the rest of the underparts and the tail like those of ''parvula''. Females have a blue patch on the crown and an almost white belly. Males of ''H. l. otero'' have less coppery upperparts than the nominate; females have a brownish belly and little or no glittering on the forehead.<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
==Distribution and habitat==
The subspecies of violet-fronted brilliant are found thus:<ref name=IOC12.1/><ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
*''H. l. leadbeateri'', the [[Venezuelan Coastal Range]] between [[Falcón]] and [[Miranda (state)|Miranda]] states
*''H. l. parvula'', the Andes of western Venzulea, [[Serranía del Perijá]] on the Venezuela-Colombia border, most of the Eastern Andes of Colombia, and the northern end of the Central Andes.
*''H. l. sagitta'', the eastern slope of the Ecuadorean Andes south into Peru as far as the [[Department of Pasco]]
*''H. l. otero'', the eastern slope of the Andes from central Peru into northwestern Bolivia to [[Cochabamba Department]]
The species inhabits a variety of landscapes, mainly in the tropical and subtropical zones. It mainly occurs in the interior and edges of pre-montane [[rainforest]] and [[cloudforest]], but is also found in scrub, clearings, [[secondary forest]], and coffee plantations. In elevation it ranges between {{convert|400|and|2400|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
==Behavior==
===Movement===
The violet-fronted brilliant is sedentary.<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
===Feeding===
The violet-fronted brilliant forages mostly in the lower to middle strata of the forest, typically below {{convert|10|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}. Unlike some other brilliants, it forages alone and does not share flowering trees with others. In addition to nectar, it also feeds on insects captured by [[hawking (birds)|hawking]]. Insects are a substantial part of its diet though details of the plants that it frequents are lacking.<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
===Breeding===
The violet-fronted brilliant's nesting season spans from January to May. No other information about its breeding [[phenology]] has been published.<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Heliodoxa-leadbeateri |species=violet-fronted brilliant}}
===Vocalization===
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."<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
==Status==
The [[IUCN]] has assessed the violet-fronted brilliant as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, but its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing.<ref name=IUCN/> The species "appears to be quite common, at least locally."<ref name=VFBR-BOW/>
==References==
{{Commons|Heliodoxa leadbeateri}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1268606}}
[[Category:Heliodoxa|violet-fronted brilliant]]
[[Category:Birds of the Northern Andes]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1843|violet-fronted brilliant]]
[[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Jules Bourcier]]