Multimedia Gallery
CEIBA Research, Guyana (Image 13)
Tufted coquette (Lophornis ornatus), a tiny hummingbird found in eastern Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana and northern Brazil that lives in open country, gardens and cultivation. They grow to only 6.6 centimeters long and weigh about 2.3 grams.
Males have a rufous head crest and a coppery green back with a whitish rump band that is easily seen in flight. The forehead and underparts are green and black-spotted rufous plumes project from the neck sides. The tail is golden rufous. The female has no crest or plume, but has green upperparts, a whitish tail band, and rufous underparts that become paler on the belly. The tail is mostly bronze green with a dusky band and whitish tips on the feathers. Young males look like the female, but the throat is whitish with fine dark spotting. They have a black-tipped red bill that is short and straight.
Female tufted coquettes will lay two eggs in a small cup nest made of plant down and placed on a branch. These birds are not shy, and can be approached. They favor nectar from a variety of flowers and some small invertebrates. They make a light "chik" sound while feeding.
This image was taken as part of research centered at the CEIBA Biological Center, Inc. in Guyana, by Professor Godfrey Bourne of the department of biology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Bourne is currently program director of the Behavioral Systems Cluster, Division of Integrative Organismal Biology at the National Science Foundation.
Bourne is personally involved in administrating the CEIBA Biological Center Inc. as a nonprofit research, education and conservation field station in Guyana. Research opportunities for postdoctoral associates, graduate and undergraduate students are available in Guyana on a diversity of organisms.
This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation. [One of several related images. See next image Here.] (Date of Image: 2004-2006)
Credit: Photo by Godfrey R. Bourne
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