Lesbiini Explained

Lesbiini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants).

The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for this group as the largest genus, Lophornis, has 11 species with "coquette" in their common name.^[1]

The tribe contains 67 species divided into 18 genera.^{[2] [3]}

Phylogeny

A molecular phylogenetic study of the hummingbirds published in 2007 found that the family was composed of nine major clades.^[4] When Edward Dickinson and James Van Remsen, Jr. updated the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World for the 4th edition in 2013 they based their classification on these results and placed two of the nine clades in a new subfamily Lesbiinae. Each clade formed a separate tribe which they named Lesbinii and Heliantheini. The subfamily Lesbiinae had been introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1854.^[5]

Cladograms

Molecular phylogenetic studies by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published between 2007 and 2014 determined the relationships between the major groups of hummingbirds.^{[2] [4] [6]} In the cladogram below the English names are those introduced in 1997.^[7] The Latin names are those proposed by Dickinson and Remsen in 2013.

The 2014 study also determined the relationships between the genera within the Lesbiini.^[2]

Taxonomic list

The tribe contains 18 genera.^[3]

Image	Genus	Living species
	Heliangelus	Orange-throated sunangel, Heliangelus mavors Amethyst-throated sunangel, Heliangelus amethysticollis Longuemare's sunangel, Heliangelus clarisse Merida sunangel, Heliangelus spencei Gorgeted sunangel, Heliangelus strophianus Tourmaline sunangel, Heliangelus exortis Flame-throated sunangel, Heliangelus micrastur Purple-throated sunangel, Heliangelus viola Royal sunangel, Heliangelus regalis
	Sephanoides	Green-backed firecrown, Sephanoides sephaniodes Juan Fernández firecrown, Sephanoides fernandensis
	Discosura	Wire-crested thorntail, Discosura popelairii Black-bellied thorntail, Discosura langsdorffi Letitia's thorntail, Discosura letitiae Green thorntail, Discosura conversii Racket-tailed coquette, Discosura longicauda
	Lophornis	Tufted coquette, Lophornis ornatus Dot-eared coquette, Lophornis gouldii Frilled coquette, Lophornis magnificus Short-crested coquette, Lophornis brachylophus Rufous-crested coquette, Lophornis delattrei Spangled coquette, Lophornis stictolophus Festive coquette, Lophornis chalybeus Butterfly coquette, Lophornis verreauxii Peacock coquette, Lophornis pavoninus Black-crested coquette, Lophornis helenae White-crested coquette, Lophornis adorabilis
	Phlogophilus	Ecuadorian piedtail, Phlogophilus hemileucurus Peruvian piedtail, Phlogophilus harterti
	Adelomyia	Speckled hummingbird, Adelomyia melanogenys
	Aglaiocercus	Long-tailed sylph, Aglaiocercus kingii Violet-tailed sylph, Aglaiocercus coelestis Venezuelan sylph, Aglaiocercus berlepschi
	Sappho	Red-tailed comet, Sappho sparganurus
	Polyonymus	Bronze-tailed comet, Polyonymus caroli
	Taphrolesbia	Grey-bellied comet, Taphrolesbia griseiventris
	Oreotrochilus	Andean hillstar, Oreotrochilus estella White-sided hillstar, Oreotrochilus leucopleurus Ecuadorian hillstar, Oreotrochilus chimborazo Blue-throated hillstar, Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus Green-headed hillstar, Oreotrochilus stolzmanni Black-breasted hillstar, Oreotrochilus melanogaster Wedge-tailed hillstar, Oreotrochilus adela
	Opisthoprora	Mountain avocetbill, Opisthoprora euryptera
	Lesbia	Black-tailed trainbearer, Lesbia victoriae Green-tailed trainbearer, Lesbia nuna
	Ramphomicron	Black-backed thornbill, Ramphomicron dorsale Purple-backed thornbill, Ramphomicron microrhynchum
	Chalcostigma	Rufous-capped thornbill, Chalcostigma ruficeps Olivaceous thornbill, Chalcostigma olivaceum Blue-mantled thornbill, Chalcostigma stanleyi Bronze-tailed thornbill, Chalcostigma heteropogon Rainbow-bearded thornbill, Chalcostigma herrani
	Oxypogon	Buffy helmetcrest, Oxypogon stuebelii Blue-bearded helmetcrest, Oxypogon cyanolaemus White-bearded helmetcrest, Oxypogon lindenii Green-bearded helmetcrest, Oxypogon guerinii
	Oreonympha	Bearded mountaineer, Oreonympha nobilis
	Metallura	Tyrian metaltail, Metallura tyrianthina Perija metaltail, Metallura iracunda Viridian metaltail, Metallura williami Violet-throated metaltail, Metallura baroni Neblina metaltail, Metallura odomae Coppery metaltail, Metallura theresiae Fiery-throated metaltail, Metallura eupogon Scaled metaltail, Metallura aeneocauda Black metaltail, Metallura phoebe

Sources

• Book: Dickinson . E.C. . Edward C. Dickinson . Remsen . J.V. Jr. . James Van Remsen, Jr. . 2013 . The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . 1: Non-passerines . 4th . Eastbourne, UK . Aves Press . 978-0-9568611-0-8 .

Notes and References

1. Bleiweiss . R. . Kirsch . J.A. . Matheus . J.C. . 1997 . DNA hybridization evidence for the principal lineages of hummingbirds (Aves:Trochilidae) . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 14 . 3 . 325–343 . 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025767 . 9066799 . free .
2. McGuire . J. . Witt . C. . Remsen . J.V. . Corl . A. . Rabosky . D. . Altshuler . D. . Dudley . R. . 2014 . Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds . Current Biology . 24 . 8 . 910–916 . 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.016 . 24704078 . free .
3. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2020 . Hummingbirds . IOC World Bird List Version 10.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 10 January 2020 .
4. McGuire . J.A. . Witt . C.C. . Altshuler . D.L. . Remsen . J.V. . 2007 . Phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of hummingbirds: Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of partitioned data and selection of an appropriate partitioning strategy . Systematic Biology . 56 . 5 . 837–856 . 10.1080/10635150701656360 . 17934998 .
5. Reichenbach . Ludwig . Ludwig Reichenbach . 1854 . Aufzählung der Colibris Oder Trochilideen in ihrer wahren natürlichen Verwandtschaft, nebst Schlüssel ihrer Synonymik . Journal für Ornithologie (Supplement) . 1 . 1–24 [8] . German .
6. McGuire . J.A. . Witt . C.C. . Remsen . J.V. . Dudley . R. . Altshuler . D.L. . 2009 . A higher-level taxonomy for hummingbirds . Journal of Ornithology . 150 . 1 . 155–165 . 10.1007/s10336-008-0330-x .
7. Bleiweiss . R. . Kirsch . J.A. . Matheus . J.C. . 1997 . DNA hybridization evidence for the principal lineages of hummingbirds (Aves:Trochilidae). . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 14 . 3 . 325–343 . 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025767 . 9066799 . free.