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Violet-throated starfrontlet

species of bird

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ837342 ↗
Source-derived summary

The violet-throated starfrontlet (Coeligena violifer) is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Bolivia and Peru and possibly Ecuador.

Taxonomy and systematics

The violet-throated starfrontlet and most other members of genus Coeligena were at one time placed in genus Helianthea but have been in their current placement since the mid-1900s. Its taxonomy is otherwise unsettled. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC), the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy all treat it as one species with four subspecies. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats each of those subspecies as a separate species. The subspecies are:

C. v. dichroura ("Huanuco" starfrontlet) Taczanowski (1874)

C. v. albicaudata ("Apurimac" starfrontlet) Schuchmann & Züchner (1998)

C. v. osculans ("Cuzco" starfrontlet) Gould (1871)

C. v.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Violet-throated starfrontlet” as species of bird. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1874, 1998, 1871—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Violet-throated, starfrontlet and species can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of bird. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q837342. The first chronological checks are 1874, 1998 and 1871.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Violet-throated starfrontlet” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.