Rufous-crested Coquette (Lophornis delattrei) [XC764488]
by Ken Allaire from Plataforma, San Martin, Peru (flight call)
Rufous-crested Coquette (Lophornis delattrei) [XC277061]
by Dries Van de Loock from Amazonia Lodge, Madre de Dios, Peru (call)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Short-crested Coquette (Lophornis brachylophus) and possibly Spangled Coquette (Lophornis stictolophus) and has been considered conspecific with Short-crested Coquette (Lophornis brachylophus). Proposed species "Lophornis melaniae", apparently from Colombia, probably represents aberrant individuals or faded skins of present species. It is not, as previously reported, melanistic. Bolivian birds were tentatively split as subspecies regulus, but, despite some possible differences in female plumage, probably best treated as synonym of nominate.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
lessoni Simon, 1921 - Pacific and Caribbean slopes of south-western Costa Rica and Panama, and central and eastern Andes of Colombia (Magdalena Valley and Santander).
delattrei (Lesson, 1839) - Eastern Peru and northern Bolivia (to Beni and Santa Cruz).