Heliomaster constantii (Delattre, 1843)

Scientific Name

The plain-capped starthroat (scientific name Heliomaster constantii (Delattre, 1843)) measures 11 to 13 cm (4.3 to 5.1 in) in length.

Size and Weight

Males weigh about 7.4 g (0.26 oz) and females weigh about 7.2 g (0.25 oz). For all subspecies, both sexes share a long, almost straight, black bill and a white streak behind the eye.

Plumage Sexual Dimorphism

The sexes have essentially identical plumage.

Nominate Subspecies Upperparts

The nominate subspecies has metallic bronze green upperparts with a wide white streak on the rump, and its crown is less metallic than the rest of its upperparts. Much of its face is dusky, marked with a wide white "moustache".

Nominate Subspecies Throat and Gorget

Its chin ranges from sooty to blackish, and its gorget ranges through several shades of bright metallic red to purplish red. Its underparts are brownish gray with a white belly.

Nominate Subspecies Undertail and Flanks

Its undertail coverts are pale gray with wide white tips, and its flanks have a large tuft of white feathers.

Nominate Subspecies Tail Feathers

The central pair of its tail feathers are bronze green with dusky ends, and the rest of the tail feathers are bronze green with extensive blackish at the ends and white edges on their inner margins.

Immature Plumage

Immature plain-capped starthroats have a dark sooty brown throat with grayish white margins on the throat feathers.

Subspecies H. c. pinicola Features

Subspecies H. c. pinicola is similar to the nominate subspecies, but has paler underparts and a smaller gorget.

Subspecies H. c. leocadiae Features

The underparts of H. c. leocadiae are paler than the nominate's underparts but darker than those of H. c. pinicola, and its gorget is more pink than red.

Subspecies Range Overview

Three subspecies have distinct ranges. Subspecies H. c. pinicola is the northernmost, found in Mexico from Sonora south to Jalisco.

H. c. leocadiae Range

H. c. leocadiae occurs in southwestern Mexico and western Guatemala.

Nominate Subspecies Range

The nominate H. c. constantii ranges from El Salvador through Honduras and Nicaragua into northwestern Costa Rica.

Vagrant Occurrence

H. c. pinicola also strays to Arizona, where it was first recorded in 1969 and by 2022 was being seen almost annually.

Habitat

The species lives in a variety of arid to semiarid landscapes, including the interior and edges of mature forest, thorn forest, scrublands, gallery forest, secondary forest, and open areas with scattered trees.