The greenish puffleg (''Haplophaedia aureliae'') is a species of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

in the "brilliants", tribe

Heliantheini Heliantheini is one of the two Tribe (biology), tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae of the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The other tribe in the subfamily is Lesbiini. The informal name "brilliants" has been proposed f ...

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 found in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

.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 2021Remsen, 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. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved February 1, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

An early author included ''Haplophaedia'' in genus ''Eriocnemis'' but later work confirmed that they are separate sister genera.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 The greenish puffleg has six recognized subspecies (but see the text below the list): *''H. a. floccus''

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

(1912) *''H. a. galindoi'' Wetmore (1967) *''H. a. caucensis''

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

(1911) *''H. a. aureliae'' Bourcier & Mulsant (1846) *''H. a. russata''

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, an ...

(1871) *''H. a. cutucuensis'' Schuchmann, Weller, & Heynen (2000) The taxonomy of this species is unsettled. ''H. a. russata'' has sometimes been treated as a separate species. ''H. a. floccus'' and ''H. a. galindoi'' have sometimes been included in ''H. a. caucensis''.Heynen, I. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Greenish Puffleg (''Haplophaedia aureliae''), 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.grepuf1.01 retrieved March 10, 2022 The two subspecies of buff-thighed puffleg (''H. assimilis'') were originally included in ''H. aureliae'', then split from it. As of early 2022 ''H. assimilis'' is under consideration for reinclusion in ''aureliae'' but the proposal does not have much support. The greenish and buff-thighed pufflegs are now treated as

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 ...

Description

The greenish puffleg is long and weighs . Males of the nominate subspecies have green upperparts with a coppery hue on the head and neck. The underparts are duller green with a grayish white scaly appearance. The leg puffs are white on the outside and buff on the inside. The slightly forked tail is blue-black. Females are similar but their underparts are more heavily scaled and their leg puffs entirely white. Juveniles resemble females. Subspecies ''H. a. caucensis'' has grass green upperparts with a more intense coppery tinge on the head and rump than the nominate, and also a white patch on the belly. Males of ''H. a. floccus'' are similar to ''caucensis'' but with paler green underparts and less of a coppery tinge on the upperparts, but in addition bright cinnamon uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

. The female's foreneck and breast have prominent white scaling. Males of ''H. a. galindoi'' are darker green above and below compared to ''floccus'' and the scaling of females' underparts is more muted. ''H. a. russata'' has a longer bill and brighter copper upperparts than the nominate and its underparts are scaled brown rather than grayish white. ''H. a. cutucuensis'' is like the nominate but with much heavier grayish white scaling on the underparts.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the greenish puffleg are found thus:Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021 *''H. a. floccus'', extreme eastern Panama and adjacent northwestern Colombia *''H. a. galindoi'', Cerro Pire in extreme eastern Panama *''H. a. caucensis'', from southeastern Panama into the Western and Central Andes of Colombia *''H. a. aureliae'', Colombia's Eastern Andes and possibly the eastern slope of the Central Andes *''H. a. russata'', the eastern slope of the Ecuadorean Andes as far south as

Pastaza Province Pastaza () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in the Oriente (Ecuador), Oriente of Ecuador located in the eastern jungle. The capital is Puyo, Ecuador, Puyo, founded on May 12, 1899, with a population of 33,325. The city is now accessible by pave ...

*''H. a. cutucuensis'', from the eastern slope of the southern Ecuadorean Andes into Peru to the border of Amazonas and San Martín departments The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

and the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...

include Peru in the species' range but the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

(IOC) does not.

Behavior

Movement

The greenish puffleg possibly makes seasonal elevational movements.

Feeding

The greenish puffleg forages for nectar mostly in the lower levels of the forest but will go to the canopy to feed at flowering ''

Inga ''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s l ...

'' trees. It is territorial and defends clusters of flowers. In addition to nectar, it feeds on insects that it gleans from leaves.

Breeding

The greenish puffleg's breeding season appears to be from December to March but nesting activity has been recorded in other months as well. The female builds a cup nest of moss and cobwebs lined with fine plant material and suspends it below a large leaf that provides protection from rain. It is usually within about of the ground. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs; incubation time and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

Groups of male greenish pufflegs sing from high perches, "endlessly repeating a double-noted 'tur seet' or 'tskut'".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the greenish puffleg as being of Least Concern. Though its population size is not known, it is believed to be stable. The various subspecies range from generally uncommon to common and locally abundant.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q428275 greenish puffleg Birds of the Colombian Andes Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes greenish puffleg Taxonomy articles created by Polbot