Short-crested Coquette

Common name: Short-crested Coquette
Scientific name: Lophornis brachylophus
Clades: Lesbiini - Coquettes
Endemic to Mexico

The Short-crested Coquette is 7 to 7.5 cm (2.8 to 3.0 in) long.

It is critically endangered because so little habitat remains for it. In Mexico's Sierra Madre del Sur, it may be found only along a 25-kilometer section of the Atoyac-Paraso-Puerto del Gallo road. BirdLife International (2011) estimates that Short-crested Coquette numbers are decreasing by 10-19% per decade. Among the habitats they rely on are humid evergreen forests, semideciduous forests, pink-oak forests, and plantations. Quietly feeds on flowering trees at high to middle levels. When feeding, it flies slowly, with its tail cocked, and displays a buffish-white band across its lower back, giving it the appearance of a big bee or moth. There is a short, spiky orange crest on the male, a green throat, and rusty surfaces on the tail sides of the male. A female of this species is rather drab, with dull orange foreheads and dark whitish underparts. It is common for these coquettes to be outcompeted by other hummingbirds when they feed.

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