Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan vs Sparkling Violetear

Andigena hypoglauca compared with Colibri coruscans

Key Differences

Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan is Near Threatened while Sparkling Violetear is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan	Sparkling Violetear
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Piciformes (Piciformes)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Ramphastidae	Trochilidae
Genus	Andigena	Colibri
Species	Andigena hypoglauca	Colibri coruscans

Evolutionary Relationship

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

View Class: Aves

Conservation Status

Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan

NT — Near Threatened

Sparkling Violetear

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan	Sparkling Violetear
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

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.

Sparkling Violetear

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

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.

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.