Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica) [XC131814]
by Martin St-Michel from Parque Regional Barbas-Bremen, Filandia, Quindio. Sector Barbas, Colombia (call, distress call in hand)
Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica) [XC261725]
by Olaf Jahn from Esmeraldas: Agua Blanca, R\u00edo Chimbagal, Ecuador (call, calls of perched male)
Subspecies
Thalurania colombica (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was provisionally split into Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica), Mexican Woodnymph (Thalurania ridgwayi) and Thalurania hypochlora by Stotz et al. (1996). Mexican Woodnymph (Thalurania ridgwayi) has been recognised following AOU (1998), but hypochlora has been lumped with Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica) following SACC (2005).
Forms a superspecies with Mexican Woodnymph (Thalurania ridgwayi), Green-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania fannyi) and Fork-tailed Woodnymph (Thalurania furcata). Species limits unclear, and all have been considered conspecific. Alternatively, purple-crowned present species often treated as conspecific with blue-crowned Mexican Woodnymph (Thalurania ridgwayi), and sometimes also with green-crowned Green-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania fannyi), forming a group with glittering crowns and more violet on back, as opposed to mostly dull-crowned, green-backed forms of Fork-tailed Woodnymph (Thalurania furcata). Lumping of present species with Green-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania fannyi) supported by their close similarity, and also by blue feathering at rear of crown in Green-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania fannyi), a feature decreasing with distance from adjacent purple-crowned forms of present species. Females too are very similar. Subspecies hypochlora of Green-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania fannyi) may belong in present species. Subspecies rostrifera may be inseparable from nominate. Subspecies townsendi (with venusta) might be approaching separate species status.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
townsendi Ridgway, 1888 - Eastern Guatemala to south-eastern Honduras.
venusta (Gould, 1851) - Eastern Nicaragua to central Panama.
colombica (Bourcier, 1843) - Northern Colombia (south to head of Magdalena Valley) and north-western Venezuela.
fannyae (Delattre & Bourcier, 1846) - Eastern Panama to western Colombia.
subtropicalis Griscom, 1932 - West-central Colombia, in Cauca Valley and along adjacent western and central Andes. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Green-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania fannyi).
verticeps (Gould, 1851) - Pacific slope of western Andes of extreme south-western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Green-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania fannyi).
hypochlora Gould, 1871 - Pacific lowlands of Ecuador. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Emerald-bellied Woodnymph (Thalurania hypochlora).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet