Buff-tailed coronet
{{Short description|Species of hummingbird}}{{Speciesbox
| name = Buff-tailed coronet
| image = Buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens flavescens) Caldas.jpg
| image_caption = Boissonneaua flavescens flavescens, Colombia
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| genus = Boissonneaua
| species = flavescens
| authority = (Loddiges, 1832)
| range_map = Boissonneaua flavescens map.svg
}}
The buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens) is a species of hummingbird in the 'Brilliants' tribe Heliantheini, within the subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/hummingbirds/ |title=Hummingbirds |website=IOC World Bird List |version=v 12.1 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1=F. |editor-last2=Donsker |editor-first2=D. |editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=January 2022 |access-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-date=September 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922015847/https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/hummingbirds/ |url-status=live }}HBW and BirdLife International (2020). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International Digital Checklist of the Birds of the World Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426034154/http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip |date=2022-04-26 }}) [.xls, zipped, 1 MB]. Retrieved 27 May 2021
Taxonomy and systematics
The buff-tailed coronet shares genus Boissonneaua with two other coronets, the chestnut-breasted (B. matthewsii) and velvet-purple (B. jardini). It has two subspecies, the nominate B. f. flavescens and B. f. tinochlora.
Buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens flavescens) Caldas 2.jpg|B. f. flavescens
Colombia
Buff-tailed coronets (Boissonneaua flavescens) Caldas.jpg|B. f. flavescens
Colombia
Buff-tailed coronets (Boissonneaua flavescens) Caldas 2.jpg|B. f. flavescens
Colombia
Buff-tailed Coronet JCB.jpg|B. f. tinochlora
Ecuador
Description
The buff-tailed coronet is {{convert|11|to|12|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|7.3|to|8.8|g|oz|abbr=on}}. Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill and a small white spot behind the eye. Males of the nominate subspecies are mostly shining green, with a buff belly accented by green spots. The underwing coverts are cinnamon and show in flight. The central tail feathers are bronzy and the rest are buff with bronze tips and edges. It has small white tufts on the legs. The nominate female has more buff on the underparts and the bronze of the tail is less extensive. The buff parts of both sexes of B. f. tinochlora have a cinnamon cast and there is more bronze on the tail feathers' tips.{{Cite journal |last=Heynen |first=Iris |last2=Boesman |first2=Peter F. D. |date=2020 |title=Buff-tailed Coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens), version 1.0 |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/butcor1/1.0/introduction |journal=Birds of the World |language=en |doi=10.2173/bow.butcor1.01 |issn=2771-3105|url-access=subscription }} {{subscription required}}
Distribution and habitat
The nominate subspecies of buff-tailed coronet is found from the Andes of western Venezuela's Mérida state south and west through all three Andean ranges of Colombia. B. f. tinochlora is found from southwestern Colombia south along the west slope of the Andes as far as Cotopaxi Province in central Ecuador and also in a few places on Ecuador's eastern Andean slope. The species inhabits the interior and edges of humid to wet montane forest, cloudforest, and elfin forest. It also occurs in more open shrubby landscapes. In elevation it ranges from {{convert|2000|to|3500|m|ft|abbr=on}}.
Behavior
=Movement=
=Feeding=
The buff-tailed coronet is highly territorial, though it may share feeding at a flowering tree with other hummingbirds. It typically forages in the mid-story but also feeds in the canopy. Its main nectar sources are in genera Cavendishia, Palicourea, Disterigma, and Huilaea. It feeds by clinging to the flower, holding its wings open for a second or two after landing. In addition to nectar, it captures small insects by hawking from a perch.{{cite book | last =Ridgley | first =Robert |last2=Greenfield |first2=Paul J. | title =The Birds of Ecuador Field Guide | publisher =Cornell University Press | volume = II|date =2001 | location =Ithaca, NY | pages =277 | isbn =978-0-8014-8721-7 }}
Buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens tinochlora) in flight Paz de las Aves.jpg|B. f. tinochlora
Buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens tinochlora) in flight Paz de las Aves 2.jpg|feeding
Buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens tinochlora) in flight Paz de las Aves 3.jpg|near Nanegalito, Ecuador
=Breeding=
=Vocalization=
{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Boissonneaua-flavescens |species=buff-tailed coronet}}
What is thought to be the buff-tailed coronet's song is "a continuous series of single high-pitched 'tsit' notes." It sometimes sings with several others of its species nearby. It also makes a "squeaky twittering, with rising piping notes and stuttering rattles," especially when interacting with other hummingbirds.
Status
The IUCN has assessed the buff-tailed coronet as being of Least Concern, though its population size and trend are not known. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered rare to locally common in different parts of its large range. It occurs in at least one protected area in Colombia.