Sapphire-vented Puffleg

Appearance

The sapphire-vented puffleg is 11.4 to 14 cm long and weighs 5.4 to 6.4 g. It has a straight black bill. The nominate subspecies' male has metallic grass green upperparts with a shining dark blue forecrown. Its underparts are mostly glittering golden green with a glittering purple vent and undertail coverts. Its leg puffs are white and the tail is deeply forked and blue-black. The female is slightly smaller, with a less deeply forked tail, but has the same plumage.

Subspecies "E. l. meridae" is a more bronzy green than the nominate, its chin emerald to golden, and much of its head feathering has iridescent copper fringes. "E. l. baptistae" is an even deeper bronzy green than "meridae". "E. l. catharina" has upperparts like the nominate but without the blue forecrown. The male's belly is bluer and the centerof the female's belly is whitish. "E. l. sapphiropygia" is a lighter green than the nominate, lacks the nominate's blue forecrown, and has a bronzy or coppery tinge to the rear of the crown.

Distribution

The subspecies of sapphire-vented puffleg are found thus :

⤷ "E. l. meridae", Paramo Conejos in western Venezuela's Mérida state
⤷ "E. l. luciani", the Andes from Nariño Department in southwestern Colombia south through western Ecuador into Cotopaxi Province
⤷ "E. l. baptistae", central Ecuador's Andes from Chimborazo Province to Azuay Province
⤷ "E. l. catharina", the Utcubamba River valley of northern Peru's eastern Andes
⤷ "E. l. sapphiropygia", the eastern Andes of central and southern Peru from Department of La Libertad to Department of Puno

Because "E. l. meridae" is known only from a single 19th century specimen and might be extinct, the SACC does not include Venezuela in the species' range. The SACC also notes that the species has been recorded as hypothetical in Bolivia. There are several gaps in the distribution along the Andes that have not been explained.

Status

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so assesses the sapphire-vented and "coppery-naped" pufflegs separately. Both are assessed as being of Least Concern. Their population sizes are not known but are believed to be stable. No specific threats have been identified. The species is variously described as uncommon to locally very common, and "[h]uman activity has little short-term direct effect on Sapphire-vented Puffleg, other than the local effects of habitat destruction".

Habitat

The sapphire-vented puffleg inhabits humid montane forest, especially elfin forest and "Polylepis" woodlands, and is also found in brushy "páramo". In Ecuador it ranges between 2,700 and 3,700 m of elevation, but occurs mostly below 3,400 m. In Peru it occurs between 2,400 and 3,500 m.

Reproduction

Little is known about the sapphire-vented puffleg's breeding phenology. The one described nest was made of moss, lichen, fern leaves, and spiderweb and was hung from a thin twig in dense grass. It contained two white eggs.

Food

The sapphire-vented puffleg forages for nectar at low levels, where it clings to the flowers of shrubs and understory plants. It has been documented feeding at mistletoes and also plants of genera "Barnadesia", "Embothrium", "Bomarea", and "Siphocampylus". It also feeds on small insects like other hummingbirds.