Chionomesa lactea
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The sapphire-spangled emerald (Chionomesa lactea) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is regularly found in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela; as a vagrant in Argentina; and has possibly occurred in Ecuador.
The sapphire-spangled emerald has at various times been placed in genera Hylocharis, Polyerata, and until 2014 in Amazilia. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Amazilia was polyphyletic. In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the sapphire-spangled emerald and glittering-throated emerald (Chionomesa fimbriata) were moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus Chionomesa that had been introduced in 1921 by Eugène Simon. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) retains it in Amazilia.
The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC), the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy assign these three subspecies to the sapphire-spangled emerald:
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 2 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sapphire-spangled Emerald sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 130 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 268th most-seen of the 550 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, May and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sapphire-spangled Emerald in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, June–September and November–January, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sapphire-spangled Emerald sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Sapphire-spangled Emerald sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Manu National Park (Peru, about 30%), Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 10%) and Itatiaia National Park (Brazil, under 5%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Sapphire-spangled Emerald that you can see in Tambopata National Reserve (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Reddish Hermit (about 20%), Fork-tailed Woodnymph (about 20%) and White-bearded Hermit (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sapphire-spangled Emerald is recorded against all the birds logged in Tambopata National Reserve (130 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.
