Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Identification

The buff-bellied hummingbird is a small emerald, measuring 10 to 11 cm long and weighing just 2.9 to 4.7 g. Adult males are unmistakable: they display metallic bronze-green upperparts with a duller, darker crown, and a distinctive rosy-red bill with a dusky tip. The throat and chest are bright metallic yellowish-emerald green, while the vent and undertail coverts are deep cinnamon-rufous—the "buff belly" that gives the species its name. The tail shows chestnut at the base with metallic bronze at the tip. Females are duller overall with less iridescent plumage on the back and throat, and their outer tail feathers are predominantly chestnut with greenish-bronze edges. Three subspecies exist, with slight variations in plumage tone and the extent of cinnamon coloring on the underparts.