Mountain Velvetbreast (Lafresnaya lafresnayi)

Order: Apodiformes Family: Trochilidae | IUCN Status: Least Concern

mountain_velvetbreast
Age: Adult | Sex: Males | Loc. Eastern Andes, Colombia

mountain_velvetbreast
Age: Adult | Sex: Female | Loc. Eastern Andes, Colombia

mountain_velvetbreast
Age: Adult | Sex: Female | Loc. Eastern Andes, Colombia

mountain_velvetbreast
Age: Adult | Sex: Males | Loc. Eastern Andes, Colombia


Identification & Behavior: ~11.5 cm (4.5 in). The male Mountain Velvetbreast is all green with a large black patch in the center of the belly. The female is green above with a buffy throat and breast speckled with green spots. The center of the belly is white. The tail in boths sexes is white with a dusky terminal band, which is broader in the female.  The bill is black and decurved. The only other hummingbird that shows a flashy white tail in the forest is the Collared Inca, which has a white breast and dusky green or black body in most of its range.

Status: The Mountain Velvetbreast is uncommon in montane forests along most of the east slope of the Andes. It also occurs in humid montane forest on the west slope of the Andes of Piura and Cajamarca. The Mountain Velvetbreast generally ranges at elevations between 1800-3200 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Colibrí Aterciopelado.

Sub-species: Mountain Velvetbreast (Lafresnaya lafresnayi saul), DeLattre and Bourcier, 1846.  Andes of SW Colombia S through Ecuador and extreme N Peru (E Piura, W Cajamarca).
(Lafresnaya lafresnayi orestes), J. T. Zimmer, 1951. Andes of N Peru (Amazonas).
(Lafresnaya lafresnayi rectirostris), Berlepsch and Stolzmann, 1902. E slope in Peru from La Libertad S to Apurímac and Cuzco).

Meaning of Name: Lafresnaya: In honor of Noël Frédéric Armand André Baron de La Fresnaye (1783-1861) French ornithologist and collector.

See more of the Family Trochilidae   peru aves

Distribution Map
mountain velvetbreastVoice


References:

    • Species range based on: Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, and L. Rico. 2006. Distribution maps of the birds of Peru, version 1.0. Environment, Culture & Conservation (ECCo). The Field Museum.  http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/uw_test/birdsofperu on 08/01/2015.