Violet-capped woodnymph

The male is metallic green throughout, and over that armour he wears a violet crown that only appears when the light strikes at the right angle; the rest of the time it reads as black. The tail is long, blue and deeply forked. The female is pale grey below, with a green crown and a shorter tail.

It is among the commonest hummingbirds of the Misiones forest and among the most trusting: it comes into gardens, visits feeders, holds still a metre from whoever is watching. The female builds alone a small compact cup on a low branch, from plant fibre, moss and spiderweb — the web is what holds it together and what hides it — and lays two white eggs.