• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Hoary Puffleg - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Robert_Scanlon
La Planada, Narino region, Colombia, March 2006
Haplophaedia lugens

Identification

9–10 cm (3½-4 in); straight black bill
Male

  • Bronze-green upperparts
  • More coppery on crown and rump
  • Dark grey underparts
  • White edges to feathers on throat and breast
  • Blackish, slightly forked tail
  • White leg puffs on outside, chestnut on inside

Female and juvenile: similar but duller. Leg puffs white

Distribution

South America: found in the Andes of northwest Ecuador and Colombia.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].

Habitat

Lower Andean wet forests and forest edges, clearings and scrub in low dense vegetation. Often seen near small streams. Observed at 2055 m.

Behaviour

Diet

Generally seen feeding in low bushes. Their main diet consists of nectar and insects.

Breeding

Their nest is constructed from plant material and moss, held together with spiders web. It is attached to the underside of leaves up to 2 m from the ground. The clutch contains 2 white eggs, which are incubated by the female for 15-17 days. The chicks fledge after 20-24 days.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Heynen, I. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Hoary Puffleg (Haplophaedia lugens), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.hoapuf1.01
  3. Birdforum Member observations

Recommended Citation

External Links

Back
Top