Crowned Woodnymph
Common name: Crowned Woodnymph
Scientific name: Thalurania colombica
Clades: Trochilini - Emeralds
The male Crowned woodnymphs are 9.5 to 11.5 cm (3.7 to 4.5 in) long and weigh 4 to 5.5 g (0.14 to 0.19 oz). The females are 8.5 to 9.2 cm (3.3 to 3.6 in) long and weigh 3.5 to 4.2 g (0.12 to 0.15 oz).
Crowned Woodnymphs prefer evergreen forests and edges near streams in tropical lowlands. This species feeds mostly at low to mid levels in the shady understory, but it also comes to feeders at edges and in clearings to feed. There are eight subspecies, which differ in plumage based on their geographical location.
8 subspecies:
Crowned Woodnymph (Northern Violet-crowned)
T. c. townsendi
Distribution E Guatemala to SE Honduras.T. c. venusta
Distribution E Nicaragua to C Panama.
Crowned Woodnymph (Colombian Violet-crowned)
3. T. c. colombica
Distribution N Colombia (S to head of Magdalena Valley) and NW Venezuela (Andes S from N Lara).
4. T. c. rostrifera
Distribution W Venezuela (SW Táchira).
Crowned Woodnymph (Green-crowned)
5. T. c. fannyae
Distribution E Panama (E San Blas, Darién) to SW Colombia.
6. T. c. subtropicalis
Distribution WC Colombia in Cauca Valley and along adjacent W and C Andes.
7. T. c. verticeps
Distribution Pacific slope of W Andes of extreme SW Colombia (W Nariño) and W Ecuador (N Los Ríos, S Manabí, N Guayas).
Crowned Woodnymph (Emerald-bellied)
8. T. c. hypochlora
Distribution Pacific lowlands of S Ecuador (NE Guayas, SW Chimborazo) and NW Peru (Tumbes).
Below is the Crowned Woodnymph (Northern Violet-crowned), (Thalurania colombica venusta)
Photographed in Limón and Puntarenas, Costa Rica
This individual belongs to the subspecies venusta, which occurs in the Caribbean lowlands and foothills of Costa Rica and south into Panama. It is found in humid forest, shaded understory, and forest edges where flowering shrubs and small trees are present.
Below is the Crowned Woodnymph (Colombian Violet-crowned), (Thalurania colombica colombica)
Photographed in Magdalena and Cauca, Colombia
These individuals represent the nominate subspecies colombica, found in northern Colombia in humid foothill forest and forest edge zones. In these regions it occupies shaded flowering understory and often visits gardens and semi-open clearings.
