Buff-thighed puffleg

Appearance

The buff-thighed puffleg is 9 to 10 cm long and weighs 5 to 6 g. It has a straight blackish bill. Adults of both sexes of the nominate subspecies are mostly dark green and have a slightly forked blue-black tail. Their namesake leg puffs are creamy buff to whitish. "H. a. affinis" is a darker green overall and has a bluer tail; its leg puffs are pale rufous. Juveniles are like adults with the addition of brown fringes on the feathers of the head and neck.

Distribution

Subspecies "H. a. affinis" of the buff-thighed puffleg is the more northerly of the two. It is found on the eastern slope of the Andes in northern and central Peru. The nominate "H. a. assimilis" is found from the eastern Andean slope of Peru's Department of Cuzco southeast into central Bolivia as far as Cochabamba Department. It inhabits the undergrowth and edges of humid to wet pre-montane forest. In elevation it ranges between 1,500 and 3,000 m but seldom occurs above 2,500 m.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the buff-thighed puffleg as being of Least Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. It appears to be "generally fairly common" though "H. a. affinis" is known from only a few localities.

Habitat

Subspecies "H. a. affinis" of the buff-thighed puffleg is the more northerly of the two. It is found on the eastern slope of the Andes in northern and central Peru. The nominate "H. a. assimilis" is found from the eastern Andean slope of Peru's Department of Cuzco southeast into central Bolivia as far as Cochabamba Department. It inhabits the undergrowth and edges of humid to wet pre-montane forest. In elevation it ranges between 1,500 and 3,000 m but seldom occurs above 2,500 m.

Reproduction

Almost nothing is known about the buff-thighed puffleg's breeding phenology. It is known that the female alone incubates the clutch of two white eggs.

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Songs and calls

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Food

The buff-thighed puffleg mostly feeds near the ground, taking nectar from small groups of flowers. It is territorial and defends clusters of flowering bushes. In addition to nectar, it feeds on insects that it usually gleans from leaves but occasionally catches by hawking from a perch.