| One of the most exciting finds around the newly-constructed Canopy Lodge has been the diminutive Rufous-crested Coquette (the image presented below is bigger than the bird itself!), which visits the flowers around Raúl Arias' home on a regular basis. This bird, at about 2¾ inches in length, is the second-smallest bird in the world (only to the Bee Hummingbird of Cuba), although this distinction must be a matter of a millimeter here or a fraction of a gram there, as all coquettes are very tiny. I obtained the decent image below by waiting patiently next to its preferred feeding bush; interestingly, a Green Thorntail behaved quite aggressively toward the coquette. Rufous-crested Coquette, like most of its congeners, escapes the notice of larger and more territorial species by employing a languid, buzzing method of flight, which lends it the appearance of a large insect, thereby temporarily avoiding detection. Coquettes are treasured wherever they are found; I fondly remember my first Tufted Coquette, considered one of the crown jewels of Trinidad's Asa Wright Nature Centre. |
| The Rufous-crested Coquettes seem to be a bit seasonal in their appearances at the Canopy Lodge, and were apparently absent from the area for much of the late part of the rainy season in 2006; time will tell if there is some sort of seasonal migration involved. The coquettes returned to the Lodge's gardens early in the dry season, and I observed the species frequently on a stay in El Valle in January of 2007. There seemed to be two male Rufous-crested Coquettes on the grounds at this time, one frequenting the usual spot around Raúl's house, and one that reliably visited the bushes outside the dining area every afternoon. This was unusual enough that the staff of the Lodge would stop their work momentarily to take a look at their beloved coquette ("La Coquetta"). One afternoon I was patient enough to approach the coquette very closely, and collected some great footage of the bird slowly moving from flower to flower. Stills from this video are presented below. I'm particularly fond of the second shot, which, from an odd angle, shows the striking colors of the coquette's breast and crown. |
| This particular coquette seemed less skittish than the ones I'd seen before, perhaps because there were generally lower numbers of hummingbirds in the gardens at this time of year. The bird I filmed was chased a couple of times by a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, but after the brief skirmishes returned quickly to feed again. I've included the rather blurry image below because it shows something I have rarely seen, the Rufous-crested Coquette with its tail feathers spread. It generally keeps its tail tightly-wrapped and pumps it up and down for balance, as illustrated above. The bird below was pivoting around the flower as I was filming, and I would speculate that the spread tail operated as a sort of braking mechanism. The physics of hummingbird flight are quite remarkable, and not completely understood. Note also the bright white band above the tail; this feature is shared with the much larger Green Thorntail, which, although in a different genus, is closely related to coquettes. I have seen the generally meek Green Thorntails behave aggressively towards Rufous-crested Coquettes, and in hindsight I believe that the thorntail may perceive the coquette as a member of its own species, thereby encouraging the territorial behavior. |
| Copyright© Ken Allaire. All rights reserved. Reproduction, modification, or republication of the images or content contained herein without authorization for any purpose or to produce any product is a violation of the copyright herein and is strictly prohibited. |