Purple-backed Thornbill

A tiny, jewel-like high-Andean hummingbird, male purple-backed thornbills display glittering violet-purple back and rump feathers with a distinctively short bill adapted for short-tubed flowers. Found in open páramo grasslands and cloud forest edges at elevations of 2,500–4,500 meters in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Despite their small size, they are aggressive territory defenders at flower patches. Their tiny size and high-altitude specialization make them one of the most cold-adapted hummingbirds.