Lesser Violetear
Colibri cyanotus
Also known as: Lesser Green Violetear, Lesser Violer-Ear, Mountain Green Violetear, Mountain Violetear, Southern Green Violetear
About This Species
A hummingbird of montane forest edge, second growth and gardens from southern Mexico through Central America into the northern Andes, identified by its violet-blue ear patch and metallic green body. It feeds by hovering at flowering shrubs and trees, particularly salvias and other tubular blooms, and is strongly territorial, chasing other hummingbirds from favoured flowering patches. Feeders and flowering gardens at mid to high elevation are reliable places to watch it at close range.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Hummingbirds habituate readily to feeders and can be watched at close range without disturbance if you remain still, but avoid handling birds or nests, which are tiny and easily damaged.
- Wildlife protection laws differ across its range of several Central American countries and Colombia and Ecuador, so it is worth checking local rules before visiting protected forest.
- Territorial disputes are part of natural behaviour and do not need human intervention.
Seasonal Activity
171,825 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.