Sapphire-vented Puffleg

The sapphire-vented puffleg is 11.4 to 14 cm (4.5 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 5.4 to 6.4 g (0.19 to 0.23 oz). It has a straight black bill. The nominate subspecies' male has metallic grass green upperparts with a shining dark blue forecrown. Its underparts are mostly glittering golden green with a glittering purple vent and undertail coverts. Its leg puffs are white and the tail is deeply forked and blue-black. The female is slightly smaller, with a less deeply forked tail, but has the same plumage. Subspecies E. l. meridae is a more bronzy green than the nominate, its chin emerald to golden, and much of its head feathering has iridescent copper fringes. E. l. baptistae is an even deeper bronzy green than meridae. E. l. catharina has upperparts like the nominate but without the blue forecrown. The male's belly is bluer and the centerof the female's belly is whitish. E. l. sapphiropygia is a lighter green than the nominate, lacks the nominate's blue forecrown, and has a bronzy or coppery tinge to the rear of the crown.

The subspecies of sapphire-vented puffleg are found thus (but see the text below):

E. l. meridae, Paramo Conejos in western Venezuela's Mérida state E. l. luciani, the Andes from Nariño Department in southwestern Colombia south through western Ecuador into Cotopaxi Province E. l. baptistae, central Ecuador's Andes from Chimborazo Province to Azuay Province E. l. catharina, the Utcubamba River valley of northern Peru's eastern Andes E. l. sapphiropygia, the eastern Andes of central and southern Peru from Department of La Libertad to Department of Puno Because E. l. meridae is known only from a single 19th century specimen and might be extinct, the SACC does not include Venezuela in the species' range. The SACC also notes that the species has been recorded as hypothetical (with "no tangible evidence") in Bolivia. There are several gaps in the distribution along the Andes that have not been explained. The sapphire-vented puffleg inhabits humid montane forest, especially elfin forest and Polylepis woodlands, and is also found in brushy páramo. In Ecuador it ranges between 2,700 and 3,700 m (8,900 and 12,100 ft) of elevation, but occurs mostly below 3,400 m (11,200 ft). In Peru it occurs between 2,400 and 3,500 m (7,900 and 11,500 ft).

The sapphire-vented puffleg forages for nectar at low levels, where it clings to the flowers of shrubs and understory plants. It has been documented feeding at mistletoes and also plants of genera Barnadesia, Embothrium, Bomarea, and Siphocampylus. It also feeds on small insects like other hummingbirds.