Coeligena Violifer Bird

English Name:  Violet-throated Starfrontlet
Latin Name:  Coeligena violifer
Protonym:  Trochilus (--?) violifer Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt14 no.164 p.87
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Trochilidae / Coeligena
Taxonomy Code:  vitsta1
Type Locality:  Sandillani Road, Yungas, Bolivia.
Author:  Gould
Publish Year:  1846
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

COELIGENA
(Trochilidae; † Bronzy Inca C. coeligena) Specific name Ornismya coeligena Lesson, 1833; "XIIe RACE. — LES CLÉMENCES. (Cœligena, Less.)  Bec très long, très droit; les formes trapues; la queue médiocre, à peine échancrée au milieu ou égale.   1re TRIBU. — LES MEXICAINS. Point de plaque améthyste sur la gorge.   ESP. 42. — OISEAU-MOUCHE DE CLÉMENCE. (Ornismya Clemenciæ, Less.   ...   ESP. 43. — OISEAU-MOUCHE COELIGÈNE. (Ornismya Cœligena, Less.)   ...   ESP. 44. — OISEAU-MOUCHE RIVOLI. (Ornismya Rivolii, Less.)" (Lesson 1833); "Cœligena Lesson, Les Trochilidées [1833], Index Gén., p. xviii.  Type, by tautonymy, Ornismya coeligena Lesson.   ...   Replaces Helianthea Gould for the following reasons: The genus Coeligena as originally constituted contained three species, Ornismya clemenciae Lesson, Ornismya coeligena Lesson and Ornismya rivolii Lesson [= Trochilus fulgens Swainson].  In List Gen. Bds., 1840, p. 14, G. R. Gray designated the first of these as type of the genus, but his designation is superfluous since Ornismya coeligena is automatically the type by tautonymy." (Peters, 1945, V, p. 98).  Subsequently, Gray, 1848, Genera of Birds, p. 112, and Gray, 1855, Cat. Genera Subgenera Birds Brit. Mus., pp. 21-22, still regarded Ornismya clemenciae Lesson (= Lampornis clemenciae), as the type of Coeligena Lesson, and treated Ornismya coeligena Lesson as the type of Caeligena Bonaparte, 1849 (i.e. Coeligena Bonaparte, 1850).  Bonaparte, 1850, Conspectus Generum Avium, I (1), p. 73, certainly regarded his monotypic generic name as barely equivalent to that of Lesson, an opinion supported by Elliot, 1879, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowledge, 317, Classif. Synop. Trochilidae, p. 74.
Var. Caeligena.
Synon. Bourcieria, Calligenia, Coeliola, Conradinia, Diphogena, Eudosia, Euphasia, Helianthea, Homophania, Hypochrysia, Lampropygia, Leucuria, Pilonia, Polyaena, Pseudocoeligena, Pseudodiphlogaena, Pseudohomophania, Urania.
• (Trochilidae; syn. Colibri † Sparkling Violet-ear C. coruscans) "TROCHILUS Lin.   ...   3. Subgen.  Cœligena Less.   4. Tr. Anais Less. Rev. Zool. 1838. p. 315.   5. Tr. furcatus Lin. Gmel. I. p. 486. 26.  Ornismyia furcata Less. Ois. mouch. tab. 18." (von Tschudi 1844); "Coeligena von Tschudi, 1844, Unters. Fauna Peruana, Ornithologie, p. 39.  Type, by subsequent designation (Elliot, 1879, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowledge, 317, Classif. Synop. Trochilidae, p. 49), Ramphodon anais Lesson, 1832 (not Ornismya anais Lesson, 1831) = Trochilus coruscans Gould, 1846." (JAJ 2020). 
• (Trochilidae; syn. Lampornis † Blue-throated Hummingbird L. clemenciae) "XIIe RACE. — LES CLÉMENCES. (Cœligena, Less.)" (Lesson 1833; see above for full OD); "Cœligena Lesson, 1833, Les Trochilidées, Index Gén., p. xviii.  Type, by subsequent designation (G. Gray, 1840, List Genera Birds, p. 14), C. clemenciae Less. =  Ornismya clemenciae Lesson.  This fixation was also used by Elliot, 1879, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowledge, 317, Classif. Synop. Trochilidae, p. 29." (JAJ 2020).

coeligena / coeligenus
L. coeligenus  heaven-born, celestial  < coelum or caelum  heaven; genus  offspring  < gignere  to bring forth (cf. Gr. γενος genos  child).
● "ORNISMYA COELIGENA  ... L'espèce à laquelle nous donnons le nom spécifique d'Ornismye Fille du Ciel" (Lesson 1833) (Coeligena).

violifer
L. viola  violet; -fer  carrying  < ferre  to carry.

SUBSPECIES

Violet-throated Starfrontlet (Huanuco)
Latin Name: Coeligena violifer dichroura
dichroura / dichrourus
Gr. διχρως dikhrōs  two-coloured  < δι- di-  double  < δις dis  twice  < δυο duo  two; χρως khrōs, χρωτος khrōtos  complexion; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.

Violet-throated Starfrontlet (Apurimac)
Latin Name: Coeligena violifer albicaudata
albicaudata / albicaudatus
L. albus  white; caudatus  tailed  < cauda  tail.
● ex “Aguila coliblanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 10 (Geranoaetus).

Violet-throated Starfrontlet (Cuzco)
Latin Name: Coeligena violifer osculans
osculans
L. osculans, osculantis  kissing (i.e. close together, almost united, allied)  < osculari  to adhere closely, to kiss  < osculum  kiss  < dim. os, oris  mouth (cf. oscillans, oscillantis  swinging  < oscillare  to swing).
● “CHALCITES OSCULANS.  ...  I have applied the term of osculans to this species, because in it are united to a remarkable degree the characters of the genera Cuculus and Chalcites; but as those of the latter genus predominate, I have retained it therein.” (Gould 1847) (Chalcites).
● "HELIANTHEA OSCULANS, Gould.  ...  This new species is about the same size as H. violifera, but differs from that bird in having a stouter and longer bill, by the spot on the forehead being larger, and green instead of blue; by the tips of the tail-coverts and tail-feathers being tinged with olive-green, and by the breast being of a more brilliant green, and destitute of any crescentic greyish-white mark across the chest." (Gould 1871) (Coeligena).
● "RAMPHASTOS OSCULANS.  ...  Ramph. culminato, Gould, quam proxime accedit." (Gould 1835) (syn. Ramphastos vitellinus x R. cuminatus).
● "SERICORNIS OSCULANS, Gould.  ...  Intermediate in size between S. frontalis and S. humilis."(Gould 1847) (syn. Sericornis frontalis mellori x S. f. rosinae).

Violet-throated Starfrontlet (Bolivian)
Latin Name: Coeligena violifer violifer
violifer
L. viola  violet; -fer  carrying  < ferre  to carry.