Tufted Coquette (Lophornis ornatus)

[order] Apodiformes | [family] Trochilidae | [latin] Lophornis ornatus | [UK] Tufted Coquette | [FR] Coquette huppe-col | [DE] Schmuckelfe | [ES] Coqueta Adornada | [IT] Colibri coquette ornato | [NL] Gekuifde Koketkolibrie

Subspecies

Physical charateristics

The male Tufted Coquette is a striking bird. It has a rufous head crest and a coppery green back with a whitish rump band that is prominent in flight. The forehead and underparts are green, and black-spotted rufous plumes project from the neck sides. The tail is golden rufous.
The female lacks the crest and plumes. She has green upperparts, except for the whitish tail band, and rufous underparts which become much paler on the belly. The tail is mostly bronze green with a dusky band and whitish tips to the feathers. Immature males are like the female, but the throat is whitish with fine dark spotting. The black-tipped red bill is short and straight.

Range

The Tufted Coquette is a tiny hummingbird that breeds in eastern Venezuela, Trinidad, Guiana and northern Brazil. It is an uncommon but widespread species, which appears to be a local or seasonal migrant, although its movements are not well understood

Habitat

This small bird inhabits open country, gardens and cultivation.

Reproduction

The female Tufted Coquette lays two eggs in a small cup nest made of plant down and placed on a branch about 2 meter above ground. Clutch size is 2 eggs incubated by female and lasts 13-14 days, young fledge after 20 more days.

Feeding habits

Their food is nectar, taken from a variety of flowers, and some small invertebrates. The small size and steady flight means that this hummer often resembles a large bee as it moves from flower to flower.

Conservation

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 830,000 km2. The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population size criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., less than 10,000 mature individuals in conjunction with appropriate decline rates and subpopulation qualifiers), even though the species is described as ‘uncommon’ in at least parts of its range (Stotz et al. 1996). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Migration

Sedentary throughout range

Distribution map