Glowing Puffleg - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by Ana Maria
Bogota, Colombia, February 2010

Eriocnemis vestitus

Identification

9–10 cm (3½-4 in)
Straight blackish bill
Male

• Shining dark green upperparts
• Golden green rump and upper tail coverts

Distribution

North-western South America: found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.

Taxonomy

Female
Photo by firecrest15
Guango Lodge, East Andes, Ecuador, April 2015

Subspecies

Four subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• E. v. paramillo:

• Northern end of Western and Central Andes of Colombia

• E. v. vestita:

• Eastern Andes of Colombia and north-western Venezuela

• E. v. smaragdinipectus:

• Central Andes of Colombia and Ecuador

• E. v. arcosae:

• Andes of southern Ecuador and extreme northern Peru

Habitat

Gardens and open areas.

Behaviour

Male
Photo by firecrest15
Guango Lodge, East Andes, Ecuador, April 2015

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of nectar. They are very defensive of "their" flowers.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2014)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2023) Glowing Puffleg. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 September 2023 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Glowing_Puffleg

External Links

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