#pufflegs

HOARY PUFFLEG
(Haplophaedia lugens)

Pai, C. 2009. “Hoary Puffleg (Haplophaedia lugens)1″
Nariño, Columbia

Say hello to the hoary puffleg. It’s hoary. It has puffy legs. It’s also exceptionally fun to say. 

Hoariness (meaning grey or white, especially with age, after the bird’s silvery plumage) may be exclusive to H. lugens, but the puffiness is shared. There are several other pufflegs spanning across two genera, and while the hoary puffleg will always be my ultimate puffleg, I don’t think I’d want to live in a world where the glowing puffleg (Eriocnemis vestitus) wasn’t called the glowing puffleg.