The colorful puffleg (''Eriocnemis mirabilis'') is an

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

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 ar ...

in the "brilliants", tribe

Heliantheini Heliantheini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe in the subfamily is Lesbiini. The informal name "brilliants" has been proposed for this group as it includes the ge ...

in subfamily

Lesbiinae Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coquettes") containing 18 genera. Phylogeny A mol ...

. It is endemic to Colombia.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 27 May 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The colorful puffleg 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 ...

. It is closely related to the emerald-bellied puffleg (''E. aline'') and they have variously been deemed

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

or a superspecies. However, one author has suggested that because their plumage is so different from that of other ''Eriocnemis'' pufflegs that they should have their own genus.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 31 January 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved February 1, 2022

Description

The colorful puffleg is about long. It has a straight blackish bill. The male has dark shining green upperparts with a glittering green forehead. It has an iridescent green

gorget A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the th ...

and upper breast, a glittering indigo blue belly, and glittering red and copper undertail

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 s ...

. The tail is forked; it is dark bronzy green above and shining golden bronzy green below. The female has mostly white underparts with green dots on the sides of the throat and the breast and reddish bronze spots on the flanks and the sides of the belly. Both sex's leg puffs are white with cinnamon tips, though the female's are smaller than the male's.Heynen, I., P. F. D. Boesman, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Colorful Puffleg (''Eriocnemis mirabilis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.colpuf2.01 retrieved March 15, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The colorful puffleg is known only from a few locations on the west slope of the Western Andes in Colombia's

Cauca Department Cauca Department (, es, Departamento del Cauca) is a Department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department ...

. Most observations have been in undisturbed

cloudforest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...

but it also occurs at the forest edge and in clearings. The plant communities are characterized by Colombian oak (''Quercus humboldtii'') and plants of genera ''

Billia ''Billia'' is a genus of trees in the family Sapindaceae and native to the Americas, from central Mexico to Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially ...

'', ''

Clusia ''Clusia'' is the type genus of the plant family Clusiaceae. Comprising 300-400 species, it is native to the tropics of the Americas. The genus is named by Carl Linnaeus in honor of the botanist Carolus Clusius. The closest relatives of ''C ...

'', ''

Persea ''Persea'' is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The best-known member of the genus is the avocado, ''P. americana'', widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large, edible fruit. ...

'', '' Hyeronima'', and ''

Weinmannia ''Weinmannia'' is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Cunoniaceae. It is the largest genus of the family with about 150 species. It is also the most widespread genus, occurring in Central and South America including the Caribbean, Madagasc ...

''. The observations have been in the fairly narrow elevational range of .

Behavior

Movement

The colorful puffleg is sedentary.

Feeding

The colorful puffleg feeds mostly at levels between above the ground. It has been recorded feeding on nectar from ''

Tillandsia ''Tillandsia'' is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of northern Mexico and south-eastern United States, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to ...

delicatula'', ''

coremandra'' and other ''Clusia'' species, '' Anthopterus oliganthus'', ''

Cavendishia ''Cavendishia'' is a genus of about 100 species of woody perennial plants, many of which are epiphytic. The genus is native to tropical South America and Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the ...

bracteata'', '' Psammisia columbiensis'', ''

Besleria ''Besleria'' is a genus of ca. 200 species of large herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs or shrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. They occur in Central America, South America, and the West Indies. The closely related genus '' Gasterant ...

quadrangulata'', '' Elleanthus aurantiacus'', and ''

Palicourea ''Palicourea'' is a plant genus in the family Rubiaceae. It contains about 200 species, which range from shrubs to small trees, and is distributed throughout the New World tropics.Taylor (2008) These plants are closely related to ''Psychotria'' ...

killipii''.

Breeding

Nothing is known about the colorful puffleg's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

Vocalization

As of early 2022, Cornell University's

Macaulay Library The Macaulay Library is the world's largest archive of animal sounds. It includes more than 33 million photographs, 1.2 million audio recordings, and over two hundred thousand videos covering 96 percent of the world's bird species. There are an ever ...

had no recordings of colorful puffleg vocalization, and

Xeno-canto xeno-canto is a citizen science project and repository in which volunteers record, upload and annotate recordings of birdsong and bird calls. Since it began in 2005, it has collected over 575,000 sound recordings from more than 10,000 species wo ...

had only three. What is thought to be its song is "a repeated single metallic short note 'tsit'".

Status

The IUCN originally assessed the colorful puffleg as Threatened, then in 1994 as Vulnerable and in 2000 as Critically Endangered. The most recent assessment, in 2017, downlisted it to Endangered. Its population is estimated at 250 to 999 adult individuals and is believed to be decreasing. It occupies a few small sites with a total area of suitable habitat of only within its nominal range of about . In 2005,

Swarovski Optik Swarovski Optik is a division of the Swarovski group of companies, manufacturing optical instruments. Its headquarters are located in Absam, Tyrol, Austria. History Wilhelm Swarovski, son of the original founder, was born in 1918. In 1935, wi ...

donated funds which allowed the

American Bird Conservancy American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Its focus is on threats to birds in the Western Hemisphere – threats which include o ...

and

Fundación ProAves Fundación ProAves is a nonprofit environmental organization in Colombia established in 1998. Its primary aims are to protects birds of conservation concern and their habitats across Colombia. ProAves has over 60 full-time professional staff. ...

to create the Aves Mirabilis Swarovski Nature Reserve for this species. Another site is within

Munchique National Natural Park The Munchique National Natural Park ( es, Parque Nacional Natural Munchique) is a national park located in the Cauca Department in the Cordillera Occidental range in the Andean Region of Colombia. There are 30 streams and rivers, and 40 waterf ...

. However, all of the sites are under pressure from logging and illegal coca growing.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q882411 colorful puffleg Birds of the Colombian Andes Endemic birds of Colombia Critically endangered animals Critically endangered biota of South America colorful puffleg colorful puffleg