Eriocnemis

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Eriocnemis
Sapphire-Vented Puffleg (Eriocnemis luciani).jpg
Eriocnemis luciani
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Tribe: Heliantheini
Genus: Eriocnemis
Reichenbach, 1849
Type species
Eriopus simplex [1]
Gould, 1849
Species

see text.

Eriocnemis is a genus of hummingbirds, which - together with the species in the genus Haplophaedia - are known as pufflegs. They occur in humid forest, woodland and shrub at elevations of 1000 to 4800 meters above sea level in the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. The males have a colourful green, coppery or blue plumage, and the females are generally somewhat duller. The most striking feature of both sexes in the genus Eriocnemis are their dense snow-white leg-puffs which consist of feather tufts that resemble woolly panties. One species, the black-thighed puffleg - is characterized by black coloured leg-puffs. Most have a contrasting blue, purple or coppery-red vent, but this is green in the black-thighed and emerald-bellied puffleg. Further common features of all species are the straight black bill and the slightly to deeply forked tail. The genus name was coined by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach who called them Snowy panties.

Contents

While most members of this genus remain fairly common, three species (colorful puffleg, black-breasted puffleg and gorgeted puffleg) are critically endangered and one (the turquoise-throated puffleg) is possibly extinct.

Taxonomy

The genus Eriocnemis was introduced in 1849 by German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. Reichenbach provided a diagnostic drawing of the bill and another of the legs but did not list any species within the genus. [2] [3] The type species was defined in 1852 when John Gould published a colored plate with accompaning text where he placed his previously described species Eriopus simplex in the genus Eriocnemis. [4] Gould's name is a junior synonym of Trochilus cuprioventris Fraser, the coppery-bellied puffleg. [5] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek εριον/erion meaning "wool" with κνημις/knēmis, κνημιδος/knēmidos meaning "boot" or "legging". [6]

Species

The genus contains 11 species: [7]

Genus Eriocnemis Reichenbach, 1849 – eleven species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Black-breasted puffleg


Eriocnemis nigrivestis
(Bourcier & Mulsant, 1852)
Ecuador
Eriocnemis nigrivestis map.svg
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 EN 


Gorgeted puffleg


Eriocnemis isabellae
Cortés-Diago, Ortega, Mazariegos-Hurtado & Weller, 2007
Colombia
Eriocnemis isabellae map.svg
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 CR 


Glowing puffleg

Eriocnemis vestita Calzoncitos reluciente Glowing Puffleg (9077570571).jpg

Eriocnemis vestita
(Lesson, 1839)

Four subspecies
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Eriocnemis vestita map.svg
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 LC 


Black-thighed puffleg

Eriocnemis derbyi (Paramero rabihorcado) (15484965256).jpg

Eriocnemis derbyi
(Delattre & Bourcier, 1846)
Colombia and Ecuador
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 NT 


Turquoise-throated puffleg

Eriocnemis godini detail.jpg

Eriocnemis godini
(Bourcier, 1851)
Ecuador
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Coppery-bellied puffleg

Eriocnemis cupreoventris 181480450 (cropped).jpg

Eriocnemis cupreoventris
(Fraser, 1840)
Colombia and Venezuela
Eriocnemis cupreoventris map.svg
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 NT 


Sapphire-vented puffleg

Sapphire-vented Puffleg.jpg

Eriocnemis luciani
(Bourcier, 1847)

Five subspecies
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and possibly Venezuela
Eriocnemis luciani map.svg
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Golden-breasted puffleg

Golden-Breasted Puffleg (Eriocnemis mosquera).jpg

Eriocnemis mosquera
(Delattre & Bourcier, 1846)
Colombia and Ecuador.
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Blue-capped puffleg

Eriocnemis glaucopoides 107016220.jpg

Eriocnemis glaucopoides
(d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838)
Argentina and Bolivia.
Eriocnemis glaucopoides map.svg
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Colorful puffleg


Eriocnemis mirabilis
Meyer de Schauensee, 1967
Colombia
Eriocnemis mirabilis map.svg
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Emerald-bellied puffleg

Eriocnemis aline 237102256 (cropped).jpg

Eriocnemis aline
(Bourcier, 1843)
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Eriocnemis alinae map.svg
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 LC 


In addition there were the controversial species: Eriocnemis söderströmi, E. isaacsoni and E. dyselius which were each only known by one specimen. In the case of E. söderströmi it could have been either the female of E. godini or a hybrid between E. luciani and E. nigrivestris. E. dyselius was nothing more than a melanistic individual of E. cupreoventris. Today these species are considered invalid.

References

  1. "Trochilidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  2. Reichenbach, Ludwig (1850). Avium Systema Naturale (in German). Dresden and Leipzig: Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte. Plate XL.
  3. Hemming, Francis, ed. (1958) [1912]. Opinion 46 On the status of genera for which no species was distinctly named in the original publication. Opinions and Declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Vol. 1 Section B. London: International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. pp. 104–107.
  4. Gould, John (1853). A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-Birds. Vol. 3. London: self. Plate 271 and text (part 3 Plate 8). The 5 volumes were issued in 25 parts between 1849 and 1861. Title pages of all volumes bear the date of 1861. For the publication date of the plate see: Waterhouse, Frederick Herschel (1885). The Dates of Publication of Some of the Zoological Works of the Late John Gould, F.R.S. London: R.H. Porter. pp. 48–49.
  5. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 108.
  6. Jobling, James A. "Eriocnemis". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 October 2025.

Further reading