Golden-tailed Sapphire (Chrysuronia oenone) [XC257811]
by Ottavio Janni from Sucumb\u00edos: 'La Selva Jungle Lodge', n bank R\u00edo Napo, Ecuador (song)
Golden-tailed Sapphire (Chrysuronia oenone) [XC689470]
by Peter Boesman from Pava Negra Nature Reserve - Florencia, Caquet\u00e1., Colombia (song)
Subspecies
Monotypic genus, sometimes merged into Hylocharis because of similarity in plumage, but lacks swollen base of bill and enlarged nasal operculum of that genus. Proposed type locality of Trinidad seems unlikely, as there are apparently no definite records with specific localities, and the species is not mentioned in any work on Trinidad birds during present century. Subspecies alleni may not be adequately separable from josephinae.
Several other subspecies proposed: longirostris from eastern Colombia differs from nominate only in average bill length; azurea, supposedly from western Ecuador but no definite records thence (in fact, probably from eastern Ecuador), has characters of a subadult male of oenone; peruviana doubtfully distinct from josephinae; and intermedia of upper Amazonia probably of hybrid origin. "Thalurania lerchii", known from Bogota trade skins, is apparently a hybrid with Fork-tailed Woodnymph (Thalurania furcata).
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
oenone (Lesson, 1832) - Northern and eastern Venezuela, eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, extreme north-eastern Peru and adjacent extreme western Brazil.
josephinae (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1848) - Most of eastern Peru.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet