Peacock Coquette

The peacock coquette is about 9.7 cm (3.8 in) long. The male of the nominate subspecies has a glittering golden green head with a black line through its middle. Its upperparts are shiny dark green with a white band across the rump. The tail is purplish bronzy and slightly forked. It has long shiny green cheek tufts with large blackish blue spots at the ends and a rufous patch with a white dot near the eye. Its underparts are grayish green. The female does not have the cheek tufts. Its upperparts are golden bronzy with a buffy white band across the rump. Its tail is grayish; the feathers have a wide purplish bronzy band near the end and the outermost pair have white tips. The throat is white with black streaks and the rest of the underparts are mottled black, white, and green. Subspecies L. p. duidae is similar to the nominate but its black crown line and the rufous patch on the cheek are smaller.

The nominate subspecies of peacock coquette is found on Cerro Ptari-tepui and in Sierra de Lema in southeastern Venezuela's Bolívar state; on Mount Roraima where Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana meet; and in the Merumé Mountains of Guyana. Subspecies L. p. duidae is found on Cerro Duida and nearby smaller tepuis in southeastern Venezuela's Amazonas state. The species inhabits the interior, clearings, and edges of rainforest and cloud forest at elevations between 500 and 2,000 m (1,600 and 6,600 ft).

The peacock coquette forages for nectar in the forest canopy, usually alone but sometimes in small groups. Its diet also includes small arthropods that it apparently gleans from foliage.