Bear-Grape vs Sparkling Violetear

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi compared with Colibri coruscans

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bear-Grape	Sparkling Violetear
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Ericales (Ericales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Ericaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Arctostaphylos	Colibri
Species	Arctostaphylos uva-ursi	Colibri coruscans

Conservation Status

Bear-Grape

LC — Least Concern

Sparkling Violetear

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bear-Grape	Sparkling Violetear
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bear-Grape

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries) and North America (Canada, United States).

Sparkling Violetear

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Bear-Grape

The Bear-Grape (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is a species in the genus Arctostaphylos. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Sparkling Violetear

A large, brilliant hummingbird of the Andes and high Venezuelan tepuis, sparkling violetears display glittering blue-green plumage with an iridescent violet-blue ear patch and chin that sparkle intensely in sunlight — delivering on their evocative name. Found at elevations of 1,200–3,000 meters across Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru in montane forest and scrub. Among the most common Andean hummingbirds, they are highly aggressive and vocal territory defenders at flower patches.