Glowing Puffleg
Common name: Glowing Puffleg
Scientific name: Eriocnemis vestita
Clades: Heliantheini - Brilliants
The Glowing puffleg is 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) long. Males weigh 3.3 to 7.2 g (0.12 to 0.25 oz) and females 3.6 to 5.3 g (0.13 to 0.19 oz).
The Glowing Puffleg is a beautiful hummingbird but might be confused with other puffleg species. In both males and females, the throat and undertail coverts are purple, and the leg puffs are strikingly white. A darker green glows above the males' rump, while the rump glows a lighter green. It is common for females to have buffy throats spotted with purple dots and buffy chests spotted with green spots. A Glowing Puffleg is somewhat elusive and doesn't often stay in sight for long. As they gather nectar from low shrubs, they hover or briefly cling to small tubular flowers. Often, Glowing Pufflegs are quite territorial and defend flowers, but sometimes they simply visit flowers frequently without guarding them. The hummingbirds are found in montane forest openings, pasture openings in the highlands, and shrubby areas between woodland and paramo habitats.
4 subspecies:
E. v. paramillo
Distribution N parts of West and C Andes of Colombia (Antioquia).E. v. vestita
Distribution NW Venezuela (Mérida) and E and C Andes of Colombia (S to Cundinamarca and Huila).E. v. smaragdinipectus
Distribution S Colombia (C Andes in Cauca) S to Andes of Ecuador (S to Cañar).E. v. arcosae
Distribution Andes of S Ecuador (Azuay) S to extreme N Peru (E Piura, N Cajamarca).
Below is the Glowing Puffleg (Eriocnemis vestita paramillo)
Photographed in Urrao, Western Andes (Antioquia), Colombia
This individual belongs to the subspecies paramillo, which is restricted to the Western Andes of northern Colombia, particularly in the Antioquia region and around the Paramillo Massif. In high-elevation areas like Urrao, this puffleg inhabits humid montane forests and páramo edges, frequently perching low near flowering shrubs where it often flashes its iridescent green plumage in shifting light.
Below is the Glowing Puffleg (Eriocnemis vestita vestita)
Photographed at the Hummingbird Observatory (Observatorio de Colibríes), Bogotá, Eastern Andes (Cundinamarca), Colombia
This individual represents the nominate subspecies vestita, which occurs throughout the Eastern and Central Andes of Colombia. In the high-elevation forests surrounding Bogotá, sites such as the Hummingbird Observatory provide ideal habitat with abundant flowering shrubs and feeders that attract this species regularly.
The vestita population is characterized by its brilliant emerald iridescence and distinctive white leg puffs, which contrast sharply with the darker body plumage. Commonly seen at páramo transition zones and cloud forest edges, this subspecies is one of the most frequently encountered highland pufflegs in the Eastern Cordillera.
