The Sooty Barbthroat (Threnetes niger) is a hummingbird species in the family Trochilidae.

It is found in French Guiana and far north-eastern Brazil. Its natural habitat is humid tropical lowland forest. Though fairly restricted in range, it is common enough to be considered a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN.

The taxonomy and systematics of the Sooty/Pale-tailed Barbthroat complex has caused much confusion. Some authors considered the Sooty Barbthroat to be a melanistic variant of the Pale-tailed Barbthroat (T. leucurus). As T. niger was described first, this scientific name is considered the valid taxon for both.

On the other hand, the SACC for example considers T. niger and T. leucurus distinct species, because of insufficient published evidence for their being conspecific.

In addition, some suggest that the Bronze-tailed Barbthroat (T. n. loehkeni) should also be considered a valid species and include the doubtful Christina's Barbthroat (T. n. christinae) as a subspecies. Freire's Sooty Barbthroat (T. n. freirei) is intermediate between the Sooty and Bronze-tailed Barbthroats however, and thus its status needs to be clarified before the situation is resolved.