Peacock coquette

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The peacock coquette (Lophornis pavoninus) is a small hummingbird found in Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela. There are two subspecies: Lophornis pavoninus pavoninus and Lophornis pavoninus duidae. It is about 9.7 cm long.

Male and female looks:
- Male (pavoninus): glittering golden‑green head with a black line down the middle, shiny dark green upperparts with a white band on the rump, a purplish‑bronze and slightly forked tail, long green cheek tufts with blue‑black spots, and a rufous patch with a white dot near the eye. Underparts are grayish green.
- Female: lacks the cheek tufts; upperparts are golden‑bronze with a white rump band; tail is gray with a purple‑bronze band near the end and white tips on the outer feathers; throat is white with black streaks and the rest of the underparts are mottled black, white, and green.

Range:
- L. p. pavoninus is found on Cerro Ptari-tepui and Sierra de Lema in southeastern Venezuela, Mount Roraima, and the Merumé Mountains in Guyana.
- L. p. duidae lives on Cerro Duida and nearby tepuis in southeastern Venezuela.

Habitat:
- It lives in the interior of rainforests and cloud forests, in clearings and forest edges, at elevations of about 500–2,000 meters.

Behavior:
- The species is mostly sedentary but may move seasonally in the Sierra de Lema.
- It feeds on nectar in the forest canopy, usually alone, and also eats small arthropods from foliage.

Nesting:
- The female builds a cup nest about 2 meters above the ground on a horizontal branch.
- Clutch size is two eggs; incubation lasts 13–14 days; fledging is about 20 days after hatch.

Voice:
- The birds’ vocalizations have not been described, and no recordings were available as of early 2022.

Conservation:
- The IUCN lists the peacock coquette as Least Concern. The population size is not known, but its tepui habitats are generally intact and not heavily visited by people, with no immediate threats detected. It is listed in CITES Appendix II, indicating trade is controlled.