Calliphlox amethystina
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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 Serra dos Órgãos National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 308th most-seen of the 336 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Amethyst Woodstar in Serra dos Órgãos National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months. That is one of Serra dos Órgãos National Park's wettest months, with about 310 mm of rain against 50 mm in July.
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.
6th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Amethyst Woodstar sightings, Serra dos Órgãos National Park ranks 6th 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 Serra dos Órgãos National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Violet-capped Woodnymph (about 70%), Sombre Hummingbird (about 50%) and Saw-billed Hermit (about 50%), 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 Serra dos Órgãos National Park (7 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.
