Buff-winged Starfrontlet (Coeligena lutetiae)

Identification & Behavior: ~14 cm (5.5 in). The Buff-winged Starfrontlet is mostly green. The male has an iridescent green forehead and violet gorget. The female has a buff throat. Both sexes have buff patches on the wings (secondary flight feathers).  The tail is notched.  The bill is black and straight. The buff patches on the wings at all age stages and sexes are unique among hummingbirds in this species’ range. Also ,see other Starfrontlets and Incas.

Status: The Buff-winged Starfrontlet is fairly common in humid montane forests only on the north and west side of the Marañon Valley at elevations ranging between 2600-2950 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Inca de Ala Anteada.

Sub-species: Buff-winged Starfrontlet (Coeligena lutetiae lutetiae), DeLattre and Bourcier, 1846.

Meaning of Name: Coeligena:  L. coelum or caelum=  heaven and gignere=  to bring forth. lutetiae: In honor of Louis Philippe Albert d’Orléans Comte de Paris (1838–1894) grandson of Louis-Philippe I King of the French 1830–1848, and claimant to the French throne.

See more of the Family Trochilidae