Turquoise-throated Puffleg

Although typically said to be known from only six specimens (all collected during the 1800s), there is another, much more recent, specimen at the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science (January 1963). Female pufflegs are notoriously difficult to distinguish from one another, but this individual seems consistent with a female Turquoise-throated Puffleg, as it lacks the violet/blue throat of either Glowing Puffleg (E. vestita) or Black-breasted Puffleg (E. nigrivestis), according to an excellent analysis and comparative images provided by Steve Cardiff. Just as important as the ~65-year advancement from the next most recent specimen, this bird is only the second Turquoise-throated Puffleg specimen to have locality information, having been collected on Tungurahua, a large volcano in central Ecuador.