The white-crested coquette (''Lophornis adorabilis'') is a species of

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 ...

in the "coquettes", tribe

Lesbiini Lesbiini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants). The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for this group as the largest genus, ''L ...

of subfamily

Lesbiinae Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamily, subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two Tribe (biology), tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coqu ...

. It is found in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

At one time the white-crested coquette and the

black-crested coquette The black-crested coquette (''Lophornis helenae'') is a species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.HBW and BirdLife Internatio ...

(''Lophornis helenae'') were placed in genus ''Paphosia''.Arizmendi, M. d. C., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, G. M. Kirwan, and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Black-crested Coquette (''Lophornis helenae''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blccoq1.01 retrieved 16 February 2022 The white-crested coquette is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

Description

The white-crested coquette is about long and weighs about . The adult male has a coppery bronze forecrown and lores, and the crown has an erect white crest. The nape and back are bronzy green; a white band separates the back from the purplish bronze rump and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

. The tail is chestnut-rufous and the feathers have bronze edges. The throat and cheeks are glittering green and the latter have long wispy tufts. A white band separates the throat from the cinnamon-rufous breast, belly, and undertail coverts. Its bill is red with a black tip.Gutiérrez-Vannucchi, A. C. and X. Obregón- Apéstegui (2020). White-crested Coquette (''Lophornis adorabilis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whccoq1.01 retrieved February 17, 2022 The adult female is generally duller than the male and lacks the crest and cheek tufts. Its face and forecrown are dusky bronze and the throat and chest white with bronzy green speckles. The tail is chestnut-rufous with a black band near the end. Its

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...

is black and the

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

red with a dark tip. Immature males resemble the adult female but with a heavily green-flecked throat. Immature females resemble the adults with a less distinct band on the tail.

Distribution and habitat

The white-crested coquette is found on the Pacific side of southern Costa Rica and inland somewhat to the

Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands. Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges: * Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America ** ...

, and on the Pacific slope of far western Panama. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid forests and taller

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

; it also occurs in more open landscapes like along hedgerows. In elevation it ranges from sea level to over .

Behavior

Movement

The white-crested coquette appears to be somewhat nomadic, spending time in areas with many blooming trees and then disappearing.

Feeding

The white-crested coquette feeds on nectar, which is mostly sought in the canopy but also at lower levels at forest edges and gardens. It hovers to feed on nectar and on small

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s that it gleans from foliage.

Breeding

The white-crested coquette breeds early in the dry season, between December and February. Males court with a side-to-side arcing flight facing a perched or hovering female. Females build a cup nest of plant down and cobweb covered with lichen and suspended from a branch. The site is often exposed and nests have been seen as high as above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs; fledging occurs 21 to 22 days after hatch.

Vocalization

The white-crested coquette makes a " ft liquid ''tsep''ing when feeding."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the white-crested coquette as being of Least Concern. Its population is estimated to be at least 20,000 mature individuals but decreasing. " forestation and reduction of the habitat is the main concern for these and many other species".