Puffleg
| Pufflegs | |
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| Sapphire-vented puffleg | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Family: | Trochilidae |
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| Species | |
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see text. | |
The pufflegs are
asl in the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. The males have a colorful green, coppery or blue plumage, and the females are generally somewhat duller. The most striking feature of both sexes is their dense snow-white leg puffs which consist of feather tufts that resemble woolly panties. One species - the black-thighed puffleg - is characterized by black coloured leg puffs, and another - the buff-thighed puffleg - has lightly buff
-tinged leg puffs. Further common features of all species are the straight black bill and the slightly to deeply forked tail. The members of the genus Haplophaedia are generally duller than the members of Eriocnemis.
While most pufflegs remain fairly common, three species (
extinct
.
Puffleg species
- Genus Eriocnemis
- Black-breasted puffleg, Eriocnemis nigrivestis
- Gorgeted puffleg, Eriocnemis isabellae
- Glowing puffleg, Eriocnemis vestitus
- Black-thighed puffleg, Eriocnemis derbyi
- extinct(20th century?)
- Coppery-bellied puffleg, Eriocnemis cupreoventris
- Sapphire-vented puffleg, Eriocnemis luciani
- Coppery-naped puffleg, Eriocnemis (luciani) sapphiropygia
- Golden-breasted puffleg, Eriocnemis mosquera
- Blue-capped puffleg, Eriocnemis glaucopoides
- Colorful puffleg, Eriocnemis mirabilis
- Emerald-bellied puffleg, Eriocnemis aline
- Genus Haplophaedia
- Greenish puffleg, Haplophaedia aureliae
- Buff-thighed puffleg, Haplophaedia (aureliae) assimilis
- Hoary puffleg, Haplophaedia lugens
- Greenish puffleg, Haplophaedia aureliae
In addition there were the controversial species: Eriocnemis söderströmi, E. isaacsoni and E. dyselius which were each only known by one
melanistic
individual of E. cupreoventris. Today these species are considered invalid.
References
- Heynen, I. (1999). Eriocnemis and Haplophaedia (pufflegs). pp. 639–643 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (1999). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-25-3
- Systematics and biogeography of the Andean genus Eriocnemis (Aves: Trochilidae) (Abstract)
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