{"id":251568,"date":"2026-02-15T21:03:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T02:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fauna\/identify\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T12:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T17:25:26","slug":"buff-tailed-coronet-2","status":"publish","type":"fauna","link":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/faune-2\/buff-tailed-coronet-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Buff-tailed Coronet"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boissonneaua flavescens<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":251565,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":""},"collection":[],"country":[11],"fauna-group":[27488],"fauna-type":[27217],"class_list":["post-251568","fauna","type-fauna","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","country-colombia","fauna-group-hummingbirds","fauna-type-birds"],"acf":{"scientific_name":"Boissonneaua flavescens","animal_description":"The Buff-tailed Coronet (*Boissonneaua flavescens*) is a captivating medium-sized hummingbird native to the high-altitude humid forests of the Andes, spanning from Venezuela to Ecuador. Draped in shimmering metallic green plumage that glints under the canopy light, its most defining physical feature is the rich, cinnamon-buff coloration on its under-wing coverts and tail feathers, which provides a striking contrast to its verdant body. Beyond its radiant appearance and distinctive white leg puffs, this bird is famous for a unique behavioral quirk: upon landing on a branch or feeder, it momentarily holds its wings vertically in a \"wing-up\" display, flashing its golden-orange undersides for a few seconds before tucking them away. This bold and charismatic species is a common sight in montane cloud forests, where its spirited personality and habit of aggressively defending nectar sources make it a standout among South America's diverse avian life.","animal_habitat":"This species is native to the northern Andes, with a distribution encompassing western Venezuela, Colombia, and western Ecuador. It primarily inhabits the humid montane forests and cloud forests of the subtropical zone, where it is most commonly found at elevations between 1,500 and 2,400 meters.\n\nWithin these mountainous regions, it occupies a variety of environments including forest interiors, edges, and clearings with scattered trees. It also frequently visits mature secondary growth and shrubby habitats, demonstrating a degree of adaptability to partially disturbed landscapes while remaining largely reliant on high-moisture forest ecosystems.","animal_behavior_and_reproduction":"Highly territorial and aggressive, these birds frequently dominate nectar sources and chase away other hummingbirds. A distinctive behavioral trait is the habit of holding the wings vertically for a brief moment immediately after landing on a perch. Socially, they are solitary, coming together only for brief mating encounters. Males are polygynous and do not participate in nesting or chick-rearing, instead focusing on defending high-quality feeding territories to attract potential mates.\n\nThe female is solely responsible for the reproductive process, from constructing a compact, cup-shaped nest of moss and lichen to incubating the eggs and feeding the young. These nests are typically hidden on horizontal branches to avoid predation. This strategy allows males to maximize their mating opportunities while females ensure the survival of the offspring within the dense Andean cloud forests, often timing breeding to coincide with peak floral blooms.","diet":"The Buff-tailed Coronet primarily sustains itself on high-energy nectar obtained from a variety of flowering plants, particularly those in the Ericaceae and Gesneriaceae families. Due to its relatively short bill, this hummingbird frequently employs a strategy known as nectar robbing, where it pierces the base of long-tubed flowers to access the nectar directly, bypassing the traditional pollination route. To supplement its sugar-rich diet with essential proteins and minerals, it actively hunts small insects and spiders, capturing them through aerial hawking or by gleaning them from foliage. Interestingly, this species is noted for its highly territorial and aggressive behavior at feeding sites, where it will vigorously defend productive flower patches or artificial feeders from other hummingbirds to ensure exclusive access to its nutritional resources.","colors":"The Buff-tailed Coronet is characterized by shimmering emerald-green plumage and a small white spot behind each eye. Its most distinctive features are the namesake buff or cinnamon-colored tail and underwing coverts, which flash conspicuously during flight against its darker wings. This iridescent green provides effective camouflage within sun-dappled Andean foliage, while the warm-toned underwings serve as a striking field mark.","fun_facts":"After landing on a branch, this hummingbird performs a signature move by holding its wings vertically for several seconds, revealing the striking buff-colored feathers on its underwings. Known for its bold and feisty personality, it is surprisingly territorial and will aggressively chase away birds much larger than itself from prime nectar sources. Additionally, the Buff-tailed Coronet has a specialized hovering technique that allows it to feed while remaining perfectly still, even in the gusty winds of its high-altitude Andean cloud forest home.","conservation_status_&_efforts":"The species is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with a population trend that is considered stable. While it maintains a relatively large range across the Andean montane forests, its primary threat remains habitat loss and degradation resulting from deforestation, agricultural expansion, and logging. Fortunately, this hummingbird displays some tolerance for habitat modification, as it is frequently observed in secondary growth and along forest edges, which provides a degree of protection against total population decline in fragmented landscapes.\n\nThere are no species-specific conservation programs currently in place, as its numbers do not yet warrant emergency intervention. Instead, the Buff-tailed Coronet benefits significantly from the existence of numerous protected areas and national parks throughout Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Conservation efforts focus on the broader preservation of Andean cloud forest ecosystems and the maintenance of altitudinal corridors, which ensure the continued availability of floral resources and nesting sites for this and other regional hummingbirds.","endemic":false,"conservation_status":"Least Concern","ebird_link":{"url":"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/butcor1","title":"View on Ebird","target":"_blank"},"animal_related_page":{"url":"https:\/\/animalia.bio\/buff-tailed-coronet","title":"View on Animalia","target":"_blank"},"fauna_family":"Trochilidae","fauna_known_nicknames":"None","fauna_average_length":"11.1\u201311.4 cm \/ 4.4\u20134.5 in","fauna_average_weight":"8.0\u20139.2 g \/ 0.28\u20130.32 oz","fauna_wingspan":"13.0\u201315.2 cm \/ 5.1\u20136.0 in","fauna_key_physical_feature":"Distinctive buff-colored outer tail feathers and a unique habit of holding its wings vertically for a moment after landing.","fauna_primary_diet":"Nectarivore (Nectar and small insects)","fauna_geographical_range":"Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, and western Venezuela","fauna_preferred_habitat":"Humid montane cloud forests and high-altitude forest edges","fauna_social_structure":"Solitary and highly territorial","fauna_breeding_site":"Cup-shaped nests constructed from moss and lichen on horizontal tree branches","fauna_conservation_status":"Least Concern (LC)","fauna_population_trend":"Stable","fauna_spanish_name":"Colibr\u00ed colihabano","fauna_french_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna\/251568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fauna"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=251568"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=251568"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-group?post=251568"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-type?post=251568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}