• 

  Profile

• 

  In flight

Hummingbirds

Hoary Puffleg

Haplophaedia lugens

• epic
• 56 km/h
• Near Threatened

White fluffy leg puffs like tiny clouds on a hummingbird. Found in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. Near Threatened.

Population

Global population size not quantified; described as "fairly common" (Stotz et al. 1996), with an estimated 2-100 subpopulations. Per the current (2023) IUCN/BirdLife assessment, the population trend is suspected STABLE — tree cover within the range is being lost slowly (<2% over ten years per Global Forest Watch 2022), and this low current habitat-loss rate is suspected not to be significantly affecting the population. (Note: this corrects the first-pass record, which stated the population was "suspected to be in decline due to habitat loss" — that characterization does not match the current official IUCN/BirdLife trend call of "stable, suspected"; it appears to derive from older/looser narrative language echoed in secondary sources such as Cornell's Birds of the World species account, which still describes the species as "declining due to extensive deforestation.")

Habitat

Very wet premontane to montane evergreen cloudforest, forest borders, and (secondarily, less preferred) scrubland/second growth on the Pacific slope of the Andes; favors low, dense vegetation near streams, forest clearings, and ridges. Typical elevation 1,200–2,000 m, with occasional records down to 440 m or up to 2,710 m.

Fun fact

Males sport distinctive fluffy white "puffs" on their legs with chestnut interiors — the trait that gives the puffleg group of hummingbirds its name.

Range

Narrow band on the Pacific slope of the Andes from southwestern Colombia (Nariño department) south into northwestern Ecuador (Pichincha/Santo Domingo province), roughly 1,200–2,500 m elevation overall (Colombia 1,200–2,500 m; Ecuador 1,525–2,100 m per Cornell). Extent of occurrence approximately 12,200 km²; area of occupancy approximately 7,800 km². Year-round resident, non-migratory.

Diet

Nectar from short-corolla flowers (e.g. Besleria, Palicourea, Thibaudia, and various Melastomataceae/Marantaceae species); also gleans small insects from foliage.

Size

0.095 m