Blue-throated Starfrontlet

SCI Name:  Coeligena helianthea
Protonym:  Ornismya helianthea Rev.Zool. 1(1838) p.314
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Trochilidae / Coeligena
Taxonomy Code:  bltsta1
Type Locality:  Bogota.
Author:  Lesson
Publish Year:  1839
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

COELIGENA
(Trochilidae; † Bronzy Inca C. coeligena) Specific name Ornismya coeligena Lesson, 1833; "XIIe RACE. — LES CLÉMENCES. (Cœligena, Less.)  Bec très long, très droit; les formes trapues; la queue médiocre, à peine échancrée au milieu ou égale.   1re TRIBU. — LES MEXICAINS. Point de plaque améthyste sur la gorge.   ESP. 42. — OISEAU-MOUCHE DE CLÉMENCE. (Ornismya Clemenciæ, Less.   ...   ESP. 43. — OISEAU-MOUCHE COELIGÈNE. (Ornismya Cœligena, Less.)   ...   ESP. 44. — OISEAU-MOUCHE RIVOLI. (Ornismya Rivolii, Less.)" (Lesson 1833); "Cœligena Lesson, Les Trochilidées [1833], Index Gén., p. xviii.  Type, by tautonymy, Ornismya coeligena Lesson.   ...   Replaces Helianthea Gould for the following reasons: The genus Coeligena as originally constituted contained three species, Ornismya clemenciae Lesson, Ornismya coeligena Lesson and Ornismya rivolii Lesson [= Trochilus fulgens Swainson].  In List Gen. Bds., 1840, p. 14, G. R. Gray designated the first of these as type of the genus, but his designation is superfluous since Ornismya coeligena is automatically the type by tautonymy." (Peters, 1945, V, p. 98).  Subsequently, Gray, 1848, Genera of Birds, p. 112, and Gray, 1855, Cat. Genera Subgenera Birds Brit. Mus., pp. 21-22, still regarded Ornismya clemenciae Lesson (= Lampornis clemenciae), as the type of Coeligena Lesson, and treated Ornismya coeligena Lesson as the type of Caeligena Bonaparte, 1849 (i.e. Coeligena Bonaparte, 1850).  Bonaparte, 1850, Conspectus Generum Avium, I (1), p. 73, certainly regarded his monotypic generic name as barely equivalent to that of Lesson, an opinion supported by Elliot, 1879, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowledge, 317, Classif. Synop. Trochilidae, p. 74.
Var. Caeligena.
Synon. Bourcieria, Calligenia, Coeliola, Conradinia, Diphogena, Eudosia, Euphasia, Helianthea, Homophania, Hypochrysia, Lampropygia, Leucuria, Pilonia, Polyaena, Pseudocoeligena, Pseudodiphlogaena, Pseudohomophania, Urania.
• (Trochilidae; syn. Colibri † Sparkling Violet-ear C. coruscans) "TROCHILUS Lin.   ...   3. Subgen.  Cœligena Less.   4. Tr. Anais Less. Rev. Zool. 1838. p. 315.   5. Tr. furcatus Lin. Gmel. I. p. 486. 26.  Ornismyia furcata Less. Ois. mouch. tab. 18." (von Tschudi 1844); "Coeligena von Tschudi, 1844, Unters. Fauna Peruana, Ornithologie, p. 39.  Type, by subsequent designation (Elliot, 1879, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowledge, 317, Classif. Synop. Trochilidae, p. 49), Ramphodon anais Lesson, 1832 (not Ornismya anais Lesson, 1831) = Trochilus coruscans Gould, 1846." (JAJ 2020). 
• (Trochilidae; syn. Lampornis † Blue-throated Hummingbird L. clemenciae) "XIIe RACE. — LES CLÉMENCES. (Cœligena, Less.)" (Lesson 1833; see above for full OD); "Cœligena Lesson, 1833, Les Trochilidées, Index Gén., p. xviii.  Type, by subsequent designation (G. Gray, 1840, List Genera Birds, p. 14), C. clemenciae Less. =  Ornismya clemenciae Lesson.  This fixation was also used by Elliot, 1879, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowledge, 317, Classif. Synop. Trochilidae, p. 29." (JAJ 2020).

coeligena / coeligenus
L. coeligenus  heaven-born, celestial  < coelum or caelum  heaven; genus  offspring  < gignere  to bring forth (cf. Gr. γενος genos  child).
● "ORNISMYA COELIGENA  ... L'espèce à laquelle nous donnons le nom spécifique d'Ornismye Fille du Ciel" (Lesson 1833) (Coeligena).

helianthea
Gr. ἡλιος hēlios sun; ανθειον antheion blossom, flower.

Helianthea
(Trochilidae; syn. Coeligena † Blue-throated Starfrontlet C. helianthea) Specific name Ornismya helianthea Lesson, 1839; "Genus HELIANTHEA.   Gen. char.—Rostrum longum, rectum vel sursum aliquanto tendens, cylindraceum.  Nares basales, et plumis a rostri basi porrectis, obtectæ.  Alæ mediocres, et validæ.  Cauda mediocris, et occlusa, paululum furcata.  Pedes perparvi.  Tarsi admodum breves, et plumis induti.  Hallux brevissimus.   ...   Types, Trochilus helianthea and Bonapartii.   Remark.— Plumage of the males rich and beautiful in the extreme." (Gould 1848); "Helianthea Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, pt. 16, 1848, p. 11.  Type, by tautonymy, Ornismya helianthea Lesson." (Peters, 1945, V, p. 98).

SUBSPECIES

Blue-throated Starfrontlet (helianthea)
SCI Name: Coeligena helianthea helianthea
helianthea
Gr. ἡλιος hēlios sun; ανθειον antheion blossom, flower.

Blue-throated Starfrontlet (tamai)
SCI Name: Coeligena helianthea tamai
tamae / tamai
El Tamá, Páramo de Tamá, Táchira, Venezuela.