| Horned Sungem | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Trochilidae |
| Genus: | Heliactin F. Boie, 1831 |
| Species: | H. bilophus |
| Binomial name | |
| Heliactin bilophus (Temminck, 1820) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Horned Sungem (Heliactin bilophus) is a South American hummingbird, the only species, (monotypic), of the genus Heliactin. The scientific name bilophus is sometimes considered a nomen oblitum, which, if accepted, results in Heliactin cornutus being the correct name for this species. It can achieve 90 wingbeats per second when it's hovering to drink nectar from flowers. A wingbeat is one complete up-and-down movement, which means that the horned sungem moves its wing muscles at a rate of more than 10,000 times per minute. It occurs in Bolivia, Brazil, and Suriname. It prefers fairly dry open or semi-open habitats, such as savanna and Cerrado. It avoids dense humid forest.