White-chinned sapphire

White-chinned sapphire
Female (above) and male (below) in São Paulo, Brazil
CITES Appendix II
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Chlorestes
Species:
C. cyanus
Binomial name
Chlorestes cyanus
(Vieillot, 1818)

The White-chinned sapphire (Chlorestes cyanus) is a small species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in northern and eastern South America. It inhabits a variety of environments, including lowland tropical forests, woodland edges, and clearings with scattered trees. This species is known for its distinctive steel-blue tail and sexual dimorphism, with males displaying a violet-blue head and throat and a coral-red bill, while females have subdued green plumage. The White-chinned sapphire feeds primarily on nectar from flowering plants but also consumes small arthropods such as insects and spiders. It is non-migratory species and occurs as a year round resident throughout much of its range.

This species was formerly placed in the genus Hylocharis. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Hylocharis was polyphyletic. In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the white-chinned sapphire was moved to Chlorestes.