Birders visiting a new area often have certain target species in mind, special birds they hope to view during their trip. High on the list of Trididad-Tobago "must-see" species is the tiny but glorious Tufted Coquette, one of the smallest hummingbirds in the world and one of the most spectacular. There are about 335 hummingbird species, and the Coquettes rate in the top five by many, as in this list from one hummingbird lover:
I'll save the taxonomy details for post #2, but for now just drink in this little gem, measuring about 6.6 cm (2.6" ) and weighing all of 2.3 grams (that's less than a tenth of an ounce!!). We watched these active hummer feeding on their favorite flowers at Asa Wright, which was fortunate since they seldom came to the feeders. Few of the Tufted Coquettes stopped to perch, but luckily this male obliged during our orientation walk on the very first morning. The strange spiked feathers seen here on the left of his neck are black-tipped rufous plumes, present only on the male. The white band near the rump is present in both sexes, and the bill is rather short and straight. This bird rocks!
Good summary on the Tufted Coquette from the Cornell Ornithology Lab:
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