Calliphlox amethystina
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Amethyst Woodstar sighting in Itatiaia National Park on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 229th most-seen of the 352 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Amethyst Woodstar in Itatiaia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and October–April, the lowest months. Those are among Itatiaia National Park's driest months, with about 90 mm of rain a month against 330 mm in December.
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.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Amethyst Woodstar sightings, Itatiaia National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 10%), Chapada dos Guimarães National Park (Brazil, about 10%) and Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, under 5%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Amethyst Woodstar that you can see in Itatiaia National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Brazilian Ruby (about 60%), Violet-capped Woodnymph (about 60%) and Scale-throated Hermit (about 40%), 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 Itatiaia 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.
