Hillstar

For the racehorse, see Hillstar (horse).

Hillstar
File:Andean Hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella) perched.jpg
female Andean hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Strisores
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Tribe:	Lesbiini
Genus:	Oreotrochilus Gould, 1847
Type species
Trochilus estella d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838
Species
see text

The hillstars are hummingbirds of the genus Oreotrochilus. They are native to the Andes in South America.

The Urochroa hillstars are not closely related.

Species list

Their genus contains seven species:

Genus Oreotrochilus – Gould, 1847 – seven species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Ecuadorian hillstar File:Ecuadorian Hillstar.jpg	Oreotrochilus chimborazo (Delattre & Bourcier, 1846) Three subspecies O. c. jamesonii O. c. chimborazo O. c. soderstromi	Ecuador and extreme southern Colombia. Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Andean hillstar File:Oreotrochilusestella2.jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Oreotrochilus estella (d'Orbigny, 1838)	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Green-headed hillstar File:Andean Hillstar.jpg	Oreotrochilus stolzmanni Salvin, 1895	southern Ecuador and northern and central Peru Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
White-sided hillstar File:Picaflor Cordillerano, Farellones 19oct14.jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Oreotrochilus leucopleurus Gould, 1847	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Black-breasted hillstar File:Oreotrochilus melanogaster 65144078.jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Oreotrochilus melanogaster Gould, 1847	Peru Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Wedge-tailed hillstar File:Oreotrochilus adela 256755748.jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Oreotrochilus adela (d'Orbigny, 1838)	Argentina and Bolivia Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Blue-throated hillstar File:Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus - Blue-throated Hillstar - male.jpg	Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus Sornoza-Molina, Freile, Nilsson, J, Krabbe & Bonaccorso, 2018	Ecuador Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:

Description

The birds are approximately 13 centimetres (5.1 in) in length with fairly long, slightly decurved black bills. They are sexually dimorphic. The male usually has an iridescent green throat, or bluish-purple in the Ecuadorian hillstar, with dull greenish upperparts and pale flanks. The central underparts are usually black, but are brown in the Andean hillstar. The tail is usually dark with a contrasting white pattern; the pattern is cinnamon in the wedge-tailed hillstar, and the tail is entirely dark in the black-breasted hillstar. The female is duller, with a whitish throat densely spotted with green, white, buff, or cinnamon underparts, and a dark tail with a white pattern.

Behaviour

These highly territorial hummingbirds are found in temperate and alpine grassland, scrub and woodland at altitudes of 1,200 to 5,200 metres (3,900 to 17,100 ft). The Ecuadorian hillstar has been observed nesting at high altitudes on the cliffs of Cotopaxi. This species is known to nest colonially.

Many hillstars feed mainly on shrubs of the Andean plant genus Chuquiraga, and some species may be limited to them.

The genus has undergone allopatric speciation.

Further reading

• Fjeldså, J. and I. Heynen (1999). Genus Oreotrochilus. pp. 623–24 In: del Hoyo, J., et al. (eds.) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. 1999.