Calliphlox amethystina
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The amethyst woodstar (Calliphlox amethystina) is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay and has been recorded as a vagrant on Trinidad.
The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy consider the amethyst woodstar to be the only member of genus Calliphlox. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) also includes the magenta-throated woodstar (as C. bryantae) and purple-throated woodstar (as C. mitchellii) in that genus. The other three taxonomies assign them to genus Philodice. The species is monotypic.
The amethyst woodstar was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1781 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Amethyst Woodstar sighting in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park on a given day, based on 43 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 145th most-seen of the 273 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Amethyst Woodstar in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May, July–August and October–January, the lowest months. That is one of Chapada dos Guimarães National Park's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain against 240 mm in March. February to April have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Amethyst Woodstar sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Amethyst Woodstar sightings, Chapada dos Guimarães National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 10%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Amethyst Woodstar that you can see in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Fork-tailed Woodnymph (about 30%), Glittering-bellied Emerald (about 30%) and Glittering-throated Emerald (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Amethyst Woodstar is recorded against all the birds logged in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park (43 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
