Blue star vs Mexican Violetear

Amsonia orientalis compared with Colibri thalassinus

Key Differences

• Blue star is Critically Endangered while Mexican Violetear is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blue star	Mexican Violetear
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Gentianales (Gentianales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Apocynaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Amsonia	Colibri
Species	Amsonia orientalis	Colibri thalassinus

Conservation Status

Blue star

CR — Critically Endangered

Mexican Violetear

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blue star	Mexican Violetear
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blue star

Habitat

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

Mexican Violetear

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, United States, and Venezuela.

Blue star

The Blue star (Amsonia orientalis) is a species in the genus Amsonia. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Mexican Violetear

A medium-sized, predominantly green hummingbird with a distinctive iridescent violet-blue ear patch and chest stripe, Mexican violetears inhabit highland and montane forests from Mexico south through Central America at elevations of 1,000–3,000 meters. Males are aggressive, highly vocal territory defenders and perform showy flight displays. They breed at high altitudes but some populations make seasonal altitudinal migrations. Among the most common hummingbirds in Mexican highland pine-oak and cloud forest habitats.