Purple-throated Woodstar

Purple-throated Woodstar

Calliphlox mitchellii

Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Cali

In 3 days <5%

9 Verified sightings at Cali
599 In all 2 parks From 2019 to 2026
March Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Purple-throated Woodstar

The purple-throated woodstar (Philodice mitchellii) is a species of hummingbird in tribe Mellisugini of subfamily Trochilinae, the "bee hummingbirds". It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. The purple-throated woodstar is placed in genus Philodice by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). According to them, it shares the genus with the magenta-throated woodstar (P. bryantae). However, the North American Classification Committee of AOS and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retain them in the older genus Calliphlox.

All the taxonomies agree that the purple-throated woodstar is monotypic. The purple-throated woodstar is 6.8 to 7.5 cm (2.7 to 3.0 in) long and weighs 3.0 to 3.3 g (0.11 to 0.12 oz). Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill. Both have dusky bronze-green upperparts with a white patch on either side of the rump. The male has a small white spot behind the eye and the female a downward curved white line there. The male's gorget is shining violet-purple with a white... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Foraging calls0:08

Ecuador · 2023

© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1149969 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Wing hum0:22

Ecuador · 1998

© John V. Moore · XC257869 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:29

Ecuador · 2010

© Daniel Lane · XC88165 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
2 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Cali 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Purple-throated Woodstar in Cali?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-throated Woodstar sighting in Cali on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 191st most-seen of the 226 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Purple-throated Woodstar in Cali?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-throated Woodstar in Cali on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Purple-throated Woodstar?

Between 2 and 5 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple-throated 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.

Where else can you see a Purple-throated Woodstar?

Only Cali, in our data

Cali is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Purple-throated Woodstar sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Purple-throated Woodstar sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Purple-throated Woodstar is recorded against all the birds logged in Cali (9 verified sightings), 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.

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