Lampornis calolaemus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The purple-throated mountaingem (Lampornis calolaemus) is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. The purple-throated mountaingem's taxonomy is somewhat unsettled. As late as 1999 various authors have treated it, the white-throated mountaingem (L. castaneoventris) and gray-tailed mountaingem (L. cinereicauda) as a single species. Others have kept the purple-throated separate but lumped the other two as a single species. These three species form a closely related group that evolved some 3.5 million years ago and has diversified since.
The purple-throated mountaingem is 10 to 11.5 cm (3.9 to 4.5 in) long and weighs 4.5 to 6 g (0.16 to 0.21 oz). Both sexes of all subspecies have a medium-length straight black bill, a white to pale buff stripe behind the eye, and a fairly long tail.
Adult males of the nominate subspecies L. c. calolaemus have a glittering emerald green to bluish green forehead and... Wikipedia →
Call0:12
Costa Rica · 2013
© Paul Driver · XC137807 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Paz Waterfall Gardens | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-throated Mountain-gem sighting in Irazú Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 63rd most-seen of the 121 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.
February–April, June–October and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-throated Mountain-gem in Irazú Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, May and November, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple-throated Mountain-gem sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Purple-throated Mountain-gem sightings, Irazú Volcano National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 50%), Poás Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%) and Braulio Carrillo National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Purple-throated Mountain-gem that you can see in Irazú Volcano National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Volcano Hummingbird (about 90%), Fiery-throated Hummingbird (about 70%) and Lesser Violetear (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Purple-throated Mountain-gem is recorded against all the birds logged in Irazú Volcano National Park (44 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.
