Violetears belong to the genus Colibri and as the name suggests all species within this genus have violet coloured feathers on the sides of the head that look like 'violet ears'. Occasionally they hold these feathers erect and they resemble the position taken by elephant ears. The lesser violetear seen here was considered to be part of a larger group of green violetears. In 2015-2016 period, green violetear was split into the Northern Mexican Violetears that are present in Mexico down to Nicaragua and the Lesser Violetears from Costa Rica down to Northern South America. Mexican Violetears are slightly bigger in size and have a more prominent blue patch on the chest.
