Greenish Puffleg

Common name: Greenish Puffleg
Scientific name: Haplophaedia aureliae
Clades: Heliantheini - Brilliants

The Greenish puffleg is 9 to 11.6 cm (3.5 to 4.6 in) long and weighs 4 to 6.5 g (0.14 to 0.23 oz).

The Greenish Puffleg is copper-green in color, has small white puffs along the legs, a white spot behind the eye, and a blend of gray, white, and green scaling below. In contrast to other puffleg species, this species does not have as prominent leg puffs. Usually, Greenish Pufflegs live in humid wet forests and around their edges. It spends most of its time in the understory, but when Inga trees flower, it ascends to the canopy. Unlike those pufflegs belonging to the Eriocnemis genus, they maintain feeding territories at flowers. It is most common for Greenish Pufflegs to forage alone in the forest interior at small clusters of flowers. Their feathers don't form a V shape like Eriocnemis pufflegs' or hold flowers like theirs.

6 subspecies:

1. H. a. floccus
   Distribution extreme eastern Panama and adjacent northwestern Colombia (Cerro Malí, Cerro Tacarcuna).

2. H. a. galindoi
   Distribution extreme eastern Panama (Cerro Pirre).

3. H. a. caucensis
   Distribution Mts. of se Panama to Western and Central Andes of Colombia.

4. H. a. aureliae
   Distribution E Andes, and probably also E slope of C Andes, in Colombia.

5. H. a. russata
   Distribution E slope of Andes of Ecuador (S at least to W Pastaza).

6. H. a. cutucuensis
   Distribution E slope in S Ecuador (Cutucú Range and Cordillera del Cóndor).

taken in Colombia

taken in Peru