Chionomesa fimbriata (J.F.Gmelin, 1788)

Size Measurements

The glittering-throated emerald (Chionomesa fimbriata) measures 8 to 12 cm (3.1 to 4.7 in) in length and weighs 3.5 to 6.2 g (0.12 to 0.22 oz).

Bill Characteristics

Both sexes have a straight bill: the maxilla is blackish, the mandible is pinkish with a dark tip, and bill length varies between subspecies.

Nominate Male Upperparts

For the nominate subspecies C. f. fimbriata, adult males have golden to bronze-green upperparts and a dark bronze-green to blackish bronze tail.

Nominate Male Underparts

Their throat and most of the breast are glittering golden-green, while the center of the lower breast and belly are white, and the undertail coverts are white with brownish centers.

Adult Female Plumage

Adult females are similar to males, but have additional white bars near the tip of their throat feathers and greenish-gray tips on their outermost tail feathers.

Juvenile Plumage

Juveniles look similar to adult females, but have a more grayish-brown breast.

C. f. elegantissima Traits

Several subspecies have distinct traits: C. f. elegantissima has coppery to purplish uppertail coverts.

Long-Billed Subspecies

C. f. apicalis and C. f. fluviatilis have significantly longer bills than the nominate subspecies.

Throat Sheen Subspecies

C. f. fluviatilis has a turquoise to bluish throat sheen, a trait it shares with C. f. laeta.

Dark Tail Subspecies Traits

C. f. nigricauda and C. f. tephrocephala have fully white undertail coverts and greenish-black to bluish black tails.

C. f. tephrocephala Size

C. f. tephrocephala is slightly heavier than the nominate subspecies, and is significantly larger in all measurements.

C. f. elegantissima Distribution

The subspecies of glittering-throated emerald are distributed as follows: C. f. elegantissima occurs in northern and western Venezuela, and the adjacent extreme northeastern Colombia.

C. f. fimbriata Distribution

C. f. fimbriata ranges from the Orinoco Basin of northeastern Venezuela through the Guianas, and in northern Brazil north of the Amazon.

C. f. apicalis Distribution

C. f. apicalis is found in Colombia east of the Andes.

C. f. fluviatilis Distribution

C. f. fluviatilis occurs in southeastern Colombia and eastern Ecuador.

C. f. laeta Distribution

C. f. laeta is found in the Amazonas, Loreto, San Martín, and Ucayali departments of northeastern Peru, and possibly in western Brazil.

C. f. nigricauda Distribution

C. f. nigricauda occurs in eastern Bolivia, and central and eastern Brazil south of the Amazon.

C. f. tephrocephala Distribution

C. f. tephrocephala is found in coastal southeastern Brazil, from Espírito Santo south to Rio Grande do Sul.

General Habitat

The glittering-throated emerald lives in a wide variety of semi-open to open landscapes, and avoids the interior of dense forest.

Habitat Types

It can be found in less dense dry and humid forest, gallery forest, secondary forest, open woodland, savanna, scrublands, caatinga, plantations, and gardens.

C. f. tephrocephala Habitat

The subspecies C. f. tephrocephala is also found in mangroves.