Empress Brilliant vs Pink-throated Brilliant

Heliodoxa imperatrix compared with Heliodoxa gularis

Key Differences

Empress Brilliant is Least Concern while Pink-throated Brilliant is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Empress Brilliant	Pink-throated Brilliant
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order same	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family same	Trochilidae	Trochilidae
Genus same	Heliodoxa	Heliodoxa
Species	Heliodoxa imperatrix	Heliodoxa gularis

Evolutionary Relationship

Empress Brilliant and Pink-throated Brilliant share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Heliodoxa.

View Genus: Heliodoxa

Conservation Status

Empress Brilliant

LC — Least Concern

Pink-throated Brilliant

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Empress Brilliant	Pink-throated Brilliant
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.

Pink-throated Brilliant

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Norway. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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.