Empress Brilliant

Heliodoxa imperatrix (Gould, 1856)

Empress Brilliant, Heliodoxa imperatrix, is a hummingbird of western Colombia and north-west Ecuador in the Andes. It occurs on the Pacific side of the range, from Chocó Department south to Pichincha Province, in very wet foothill forest, cloudforest and mature secondary forest. It is a member of the Trochilidae and was described by Gould in 1856. The species is monotypic. Its breeding season runs from January to April, and the few nests found have been cups made from tree fern scales and other plant material, bound with spider silk and lined with soft seed fluff.

Order

Apodiformes

Family

Trochilidae — Hummingbirds

Breeding range

South America: wc Colombia to nw Ecuador