Breeding

Little information; what little is known is from Skutch (1967). Purple-throated Mountain-gems breed primarily during the rainy season from October to April (Stiles and Skutch 1999). The nests are "substantial, thick-walled, open cups, with incurved walls" (Skutch 1967). Nests are made "chiefly of buffy and tawny [plant] down", fern scales, and liverworts, with exteriors of moss and lichen (Skutch 1967). Nests are 1.2-3.6 m above the ground, with a mean height of 2 m (n=6; Skutch 1967). Nest sites include on bamboo sprays, on stems of coarse grass, and in small trees. One nest measured 6.3 cm in diameter with a height of 5 cm (Skutch 1967). The cluch is two; eggs are white, unmarked, and highly elongate. Females incubate the eggs and feed the nestlings (Snow 1977). Incubation is 17-18 days and the fledging period is 22-23 days (Schuchmann 1999).