Ecuadorian Hillstar (Oreotrochilus chimborazo) [XC260498]
by Paul Molina Abril from Cotopaxi: Laguna de Limpiopungo, Ecuador (call, foraging calls)
Ecuadorian Hillstar (Oreotrochilus chimborazo) [XC72706]
by John V. Moore from Hacienda Antisana, Border of Pichincha & Napo provinces, Ecuador (call)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Andean Hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella), Green-headed Hillstar (Oreotrochilus stolzmanni) and White-sided Hillstar (Oreotrochilus leucopleurus), and all have been considered conspecific, but separated largely on morphological grounds. Subspecies soederstroemi is sometimes thought to be an intergrade of jamesonii and nominate, but it is apparently isolated geographically from both of them.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
jamesonii Jardine, 1849 - Mountains of extreme southern Colombia and northern Ecuador (Cotacachi, Pichincha, Iliniza, Antisana, Cotopaxi).
soderstromi Lönnberg and Rendahl, 1922 - Central Ecuador (Mt Quilotoa).
chimborazo (DeLattre & Bourcier, 1846) - Central Ecuador (Mt Chimborazo, possibly also Azuay).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet