White-throated Mountain-gem (Lampornis castaneoventris cinereicauda)

27 January 2009, Savegre Mountain Hotel, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica This species is sometimes lumped with the Purple-throated Mountain-Gem (Lampornis calolaemus) which is almost identical except for the purple instead of white throat in the male. HBW calls the whole assemblage the Variable Mountain-Gem. The White-throated Mountain-Gem is sometimes further split between northern and southern isolates. This is L. c. cinereicauda which is sometimes called the Gray-tailed Mountain-Gem (e.g. Stiles "A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica." A gray-bellied, dark-tailed race is localized in western Panama. Here I follow the AOU 7th edition which splits the Purple-throated bird from the White-throated, but not the gray-bellied. All three forms are confined to southern Middle America and are endemic to the region from Nicaragua to Panama. Panasonic DMC-LZ5 / Nikon FieldScope 3 / 30X WA hand-held (no adapter)