The sapphire-throated hummingbird is part of the order Apodiformes, which includes the hummingbirds, swifts and treeswifts.
After first being described in 1851, it was later discovered that there are two other subspecies of the hummingbird based on a difference of distribution and coloration, with the nominate subspecies being Lepidopyga coeruleogularis coeruleogularis.[REF][REF]