Mexican Violetear vs small tortoiseshell

Colibri thalassinus compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Mexican Violetear is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Mexican Violetear	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Trochilidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Colibri	Aglais
Species	Colibri thalassinus	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Mexican Violetear and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Mexican Violetear

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Mexican Violetear	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Mexican Violetear

Habitat

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

Range

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

small tortoiseshell

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (41 countries). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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.

small tortoiseshell

small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) 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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway