Buff-thighed Puffleg (Haplophaedia assimilis) — Vorstman's Guide to the Birds of the Andes and West Coast

Voice

The presumed song is a repeated, sharp single note, sometimes alternated with a double call; also a dry rattle and chattering.

Listen: SongXC864079

Recording: Jacob Wijpkema — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto

Identification

9–10 cm, with a straight black bill. Both sexes are mostly dark green, with a slightly forked, blue-black tail. In southern birds the leg puffs are creamy buff to whitish; in birds of northern and central Peru they are pale rufous and the plumage is darker, with a bluer tail. Young birds resemble the adults, with brown fringes to the feathers of the head and neck.

Confusion species

Greenish Puffleg Haplophaedia aureliae lives further north and has whiter leg puffs and more heavily scaled underparts. Pufflegs of the genus Eriocnemis usually live higher, up to the treeline, and are more glittering in colour. Rufous-booted Racket-tail Ocreatus addae also has rufous leg puffs, but the male has long tail rackets and the female is white below with green spots.

Habitat

Undergrowth and edges of humid to wet montane forest on the lower and middle slopes, between about 1500 and 3000 m, but rarely above 2500 m. It feeds low in the forest at flowers and gleans insects from leaves. Outside the breeding season it possibly moves to the lower parts of its elevational range.

Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.

Range and movements

In Peru on the eastern slope of the Andes, from the north to the south. In Bolivia on the eastern slope of the Andes, south to Cochabamba. Absent from Colombia, Ecuador and the Galápagos. Does not occur outside the guide area.

Resident
dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Density map from the occurrence records of GBIF (2006-10-01 – 2026-09-30), counted per 1.41° grid cell and per month and divided by all bird records in that same cell — so the number of birdwatchers does not shape the picture. Colour depth follows that share and fades out gradually, so the map does not follow national borders. Country outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).

How and when to look

Along trails through montane forest on the eastern slope, for example in the Yungas of Bolivia and the montane forests of central and southern Peru, low at flowering shrubs and epiphytes.

Conservation status

Least Concern. Deforestation on the lower slopes affects its habitat locally.

Scientific name

Haplophaedia assimilis | (Elliot, 1876)

Elliot described the species in 1876 as Eriocnemis assimilis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Haplophaedia was introduced in 1918 by Simon. The genus name comes from Greek haploos, 'simple', and phaidros, 'shining, bright'. The species name is Latin assimilis, 'similar', probably referring to its likeness to related pufflegs. The specimen the first description was based on came from Apolo and Tilotilo, Bolivia.