HUMMINGBIRD SPECIES

Sapphire-vented Puffleg

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Eriocnemis luciani

The Sapphire-vented Puffleg is a large, lanky hummingbird of the high Andes.

It measures about 4.5 – 4.7 inches in length.

Both sexes are similar. They are mostly green and have a small white post-ocular spot.

They have bluish frontlet and bluish cast on throat. The long, forked tail is dark bluish-purple. Undertail area is purple. Legs surrounded by fluffy, white feathers.

Birds from Ecuador have a blue forehead.

Peruvian birds have little or no blue on the forehead, a coppery nape, and may show a bluish tinge on the belly.

Females from southern Peru can have a whitish belly.

Montane forests in the cloud forest belt. The species is described to occur at 2900-3600 meters.

The Andes: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

SOURCES:
https://www.birdforum.net
https://ebird.org
https://en.wikipedia.org