''Eriocnemis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s, which - together with the species in the genus ''

Haplophaedia ''Haplophaedia'' is a small genus of hummingbirds, which – together with the members of the genus ''Eriocnemis'' – are known as pufflegs. They are found at low levels in humid forest, woodland and shrub at altitudes of 1200 to 3100 m. asl ...

'' - are known as

puffleg The pufflegs are hummingbirds from the genera '' Eriocnemis'' and ''Haplophaedia''. They occur in humid forest, woodland and shrub at altitudes of 1000 to 4800 m. asl in the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. ...

s. They occur in humid forest, woodland and shrub at altitudes of 1000 to 4800 m.

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. The males have a colourful green, coppery or blue

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

, and the females are generally somewhat duller. The most striking feature of both sexes in the genus ''Eriocnemis'' are their dense snow-white leg-puffs which consist of feather tufts that resemble woolly panties. One species, the

black-thighed puffleg The black-thighed puffleg (''Eriocnemis derbyi'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of ...

- is characterized by black coloured leg-puffs. Most have a contrasting blue, purple or coppery-red vent, but this is green in the black-thighed and emerald-bellied puffleg. Further common features of all species are the straight black bill and the slightly to deeply forked tail. The genus name was coined by the German naturalist

Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist and ornithologist. It was he who first requested Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate models for scientific education and museu ...

who called them ''Snowy panties''. While most members of this genus remain fairly common, three species (

colorful puffleg The colorful puffleg (''Eriocnemis mirabilis'') is an Endangered species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to Colombia.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds o ...

black-breasted puffleg The black-breasted puffleg (''Eriocnemis nigrivestis'') is a species of hummingbird native to Ecuador. It is Critically Endangered, with no more than 250 individuals remaining in the wild. Description The species reaches a length of 8–9 ...

and

gorgeted puffleg The gorgeted puffleg (''Eriocnemis isabellae'') is a Critically Endangered species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to Colombia. It was discovered in 2005 and confirmed as a species ...

) are critically endangered and one (the

turquoise-throated puffleg The turquoise-throated puffleg (''Eriocnemis godini''), also known as Godin's puffleg, is a species of hummingbird from Ecuador. It is mostly green with blue undertail coverts and white powder-puffs of downy feathers on the legs, and the male has ...

) is possibly

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Species

The genus contains 11 species: *

Black-breasted puffleg The black-breasted puffleg (''Eriocnemis nigrivestis'') is a species of hummingbird native to Ecuador. It is Critically Endangered, with no more than 250 individuals remaining in the wild. Description The species reaches a length of 8–9 ...

, ''Eriocnemis nigrivestis'' *

Gorgeted puffleg The gorgeted puffleg (''Eriocnemis isabellae'') is a Critically Endangered species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to Colombia. It was discovered in 2005 and confirmed as a species ...

, ''Eriocnemis isabellae'' *

Glowing puffleg The glowing puffleg (''Eriocnemis vestita'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of t ...

, ''Eriocnemis vestita'' *

Black-thighed puffleg The black-thighed puffleg (''Eriocnemis derbyi'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of ...

, ''Eriocnemis derbyi'' *

Turquoise-throated puffleg The turquoise-throated puffleg (''Eriocnemis godini''), also known as Godin's puffleg, is a species of hummingbird from Ecuador. It is mostly green with blue undertail coverts and white powder-puffs of downy feathers on the legs, and the male has ...

, ''Eriocnemis godini'' - possibly

(20th century?) *

Coppery-bellied puffleg The coppery-bellied puffleg (''Eriocnemis cupreoventris'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the ...

, ''Eriocnemis cupreoventris'' *

Sapphire-vented puffleg The sapphire-vented puffleg (''Eriocnemis luciani'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and possibly Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2020 ...

, ''Eriocnemis luciani'' ** Coppery-naped puffleg, ''Eriocnemis (luciani) sapphiropygia'' *

Golden-breasted puffleg The golden-breasted puffleg (''Eriocnemis mosquera'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds ...

, ''Eriocnemis mosquera'' * Blue-capped puffleg, ''Eriocnemis glaucopoides'' *

Colorful puffleg The colorful puffleg (''Eriocnemis mirabilis'') is an Endangered species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to Colombia.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds o ...

, ''Eriocnemis mirabilis'' *

Emerald-bellied puffleg The emerald-bellied puffleg (''Eriocnemis aline'') is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in the subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of th ...

, ''Eriocnemis aline'' In addition there were the controversial species: ''Eriocnemis söderströmi'', ''E. isaacsoni'' and ''E. dyselius'' which were each only known by one

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

. In the case of ''E. söderströmi'' it could have been either the female of ''E. godini'' or a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between ''E. luciani'' and ''E. nigrivestris''. ''E. dyselius'' was nothing more than a

melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...

individual of ''E. cupreoventris''. Today these species are considered invalid.

References

* Heynen, I. (1999). Genus ''Eriocnemis''. pp. 639–641 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.
Systematics and biogeography of the Andean genus Eriocnemis (Aves: Trochilidae) (Abstract)
Bird genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach {{hummingbird-stub