White-vented Plumeleteer

Common name: White-vented Plumeleteer
Scientific name: Chalybura buffonii
Clades: Trochilini - Emeralds

The White-vented Plumeleteer is 10.5 to 12 cm (4.1 to 4.7 in) long. Males weigh 6 to 7.3 g (0.21 to 0.26 oz) and females 5.9 to 7.9 g (0.21 to 0.28 oz).

White-vented Plumeleteers are medium-sized hummingbirds. Green and turquoise tones dominate the male's appearance. A female is green on top and gray on the bottom. You can distinguish this species from other hummingbirds by its contrasting white undertail coverts on both sexes. It resembles the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer most closely, but its tail is darker blue-black rather than bronze. Singles are usually seen in forest edges, shrubby second growth, or at flowers in the forest. 5 subspecies:

White-vented Plumeleteer (White-vented)

1. C. b. micans
   Distribution Central and eastern Panama and western Colombia southward to Nariño on the Pacific slope, in the Cauca Valley, and at the head of Magdalena Valley.

2. C. b. buffonii

   Distribution Central Colombia in the upper and middle Magdalena Valley to southern and western parts of Maracaibo basin and adjacent slopes in extreme northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in Zulia and western Mérida.

3. C. b. aeneicauda
   Distribution Northern Colombia in the lower Magdalena Valley and Santa Marta region eastward to western and north-central Venezuela, along the southern slope of Andes and on the coastal slope.

White-vented Plumeleteer (Blue-bellied)

4. C. b. caeruleogaster
Distribution Northern and central Colombia on the eastern slope of the East Andes.

White-vented Plumeleteer (Ecuadorian)

5. C. b. intermedia
Distribution Subtropical zone of southwestern Ecuador in El Oro and northwestern Peru in Tumbes.