Chalybura buffonii
The White-vented Plumeleteer (Chalybura buffonii) is a medium-sized, strikingly iridescent hummingbird, measuring approximately 10.5-12 cm (4.1-4.7 inches) in length and weighing 5.5-8.5 grams. Its most distinctive field mark is its brilliant, contrasting white undertail coverts, which stand out against a dark, bronzy-green or iridescent blue-green body. Males typically boast a shimmering green or blue-green head and upperparts, often with an emerald or bronze sheen, while their straight, ent...
This species primarily inhabits humid evergreen forests, forest edges, secondary growth, plantations, and dense thickets, typically found in lowlands and foothills up to elevations of 1,200-2,000 meters.
The primary diet consists of nectar from a wide variety of flowering plants, supplemented significantly by small insects and spiders gleaned from foliage or caught in flight.
White-vented Plumeleteers are highly active and diurnal, spending their days foraging for nectar and insects, often returning to preferred perches between feeding bouts. Males are notably territorial, fiercely defending rich flowering patches or feeding areas against other hummingbirds, including...
The White-vented Plumeleteer is a resident species distributed across a significant portion of northern South America and southern Central America. Its range extends from Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, through Colombia, and eastward into Venezuela. In Colombia, it is particularly wi...
Least Concern
- The White-vented Plumeleteer is named after the renowned 18th-century French naturalist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. - Despite its robust appearance, it is an agile flyer, capable of hovering, flying backward, and performing intricate aerial maneuvers. - Its heart rate can reach up ...