Empress Brilliant vs Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan

Heliodoxa imperatrix compared with Andigena hypoglauca

Key Differences

Empress Brilliant is Least Concern while Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Empress Brilliant	Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Piciformes (Piciformes)
Family	Trochilidae	Ramphastidae
Genus	Heliodoxa	Andigena
Species	Heliodoxa imperatrix	Andigena hypoglauca

Evolutionary Relationship

Empress Brilliant and Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

View Class: Aves

Conservation Status

Empress Brilliant

LC — Least Concern

Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Empress Brilliant	Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Empress Brilliant

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Norway.

Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Norway. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Empress Brilliant

A large, brilliantly colored hummingbird of humid Andean forests in Colombia and Ecuador, male empress brilliants are among the most striking hummingbirds with iridescent green and violet plumage and glittering scales across their throat and breast. Found at elevations between 1,000–2,100 meters in cloud forest. Named in honor of Empress Eugenie of France, these powerful birds aggressively defend territory around flowering trees. Listed as Least Concern with stable populations in remaining Andean forest.

Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan

Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan (Andigena hypoglauca) is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Close to qualifying as threatened, with populations that may become vulnerable without conservation action.