Green-crowned Plovercrest

The green-crowned plovercrest is 8.5 to 9 cm (3.3 to 3.5 in) long. Males weigh 3 to 3.4 g (0.11 to 0.12 oz) and females about 2.2 g (0.078 oz). Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill. Adult males have a shaggy, mostly iridescent green, crest whose longest feather is purplish black. Their face is gray with a white spot behind the eye. Their upperparts are shining bronze-green. Their chin to upper belly is violet-blue and the rest of the underparts are gray. Their central tail feathers are green and the rest green with a blackish band near the end and grayish white tips. Adult females and juveniles have a smaller crest. Their upperparts are shining green and their underparts gray.

The green-crowned plovercrest is found in the eastern Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. It inhabits the understory of forest, scrublands, and vegetation along watercourses. In elevation it mostly ranges between sea level and about 1,500 m (4,900 ft) but has been found as high as 2,900 m (9,500 ft).

The green-crowned plovercrest forages for nectar from near the ground to the canopy, utilizing both native and introduced flowering species. Males defend feeding territories during the breeding season. In addition to nectar, the species feeds on insects caught in flight or gleaned from leaves.