In central and southern Mexico it tends to favor coniferous forest. In the USA and northern Mexico it occurs in riparian forest (often in canyons), pine-oak forest, and mixed coniferous forest. The blue-throated mountaingem is found in a variety of moist forest landscapes. Birds in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León may also be this subspecies rather than the nominate. phasmorus is positively known only from the Chisos Mountains of southern Texas, where it breeds, but its non-breeding range is not known. bessophilus is found in southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and in the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Durango. It is found in Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental and central plateau as far south as Oaxaca. The nominate subspecies of blue-throated mountaingem has the largest range. The white tips on the tail feathers are the narrowest of all subspecies. ![]() Males' underparts are brownish gray and females' medium pale gray like the nominate there is some greenish bronze iridescence on the sides of the breast. Its upperparts are duller than the nominate's, with less bronze to the green. bessophilus is between the other two subspecies in size. The white tips on the tail feathers are wider than those of the nominate. The iridescence on the sides of the breast is green. Males' underparts are a cold gray rather than brownish gray and females' are dark gray. Its upperparts are bright green rather than greenish bronze. phasmorus is the smallest and has the shortest bill. Females have entirely medium gray underparts without the gorget. The tail is black with some faint indigo iridescence and white tips on the outer two pairs of feathers. They have medium brownish gray underparts with some greenish bronze iridescence on the sides of the breast. ![]() They have mostly bright greenish bronze upperparts that become dark bronzy olive on the rump. Adult males have an iridescent cobalt to cerulean blue gorget with a narrow buffy gray margin. The nominate subspecies is the largest and has the longest bill. Both sexes of all subspecies have a conspicuous white stripe behind the eye and a narrower stripe extending backward from the corner of its bill under a blackish cheek patch. Both sexes have a medium-length black bill, though there is some variation among the subspecies and females' bills are longer than males'. The blue-throated mountaingem is the largest hummingbird found in the USA. Since the mid-1900s it has been in its present genus Lampornis. In the 19th century the blue-throated mountaingem was placed several different genera, and in the early 20th century in its own genus Cyanolaemus.
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