Meet The Rufous-Crested Coquette – A Unique Chubby Little Hummingbird (12 Pics)

Even within the charismatic hummingbird family (Trochilidae), the tiny, rare, ornately plumaged Rufous-crested Coquette is a standout birders' favorite. The male Rufous-crested Coquette is most easily recognized by its long rufous-orange crest, as well as its green gorget (throat patch) with rufous cheek tufts and white throat feathers, and its conspicuous pale rump-band. The female is similar to the male but has a rufous-orange forecrown without a crest and lacks the male's gorget. Coquettes (of the genus Lophornis) are some of the very smallest members of the hummingbird family and are often described as having a beelike flight, with the result that they are sometimes mistaken for flying insects! The Rufous-crested Coquette's breeding and nesting behavior is poorly recorded, other than the courtship behavior of the male involving the display of its crest and short display flights in front of the female.