Little Woodstar is a very rare vagrant to the feeders. It has been reliably recorded on only a couple of occasions, but female and juvenile Purple-throated Woodstars are frequently mistaken for it. It's important to remember that female Purple-throated Woodstar can have an orange-buff throat, and even if the the bird appears to be completely orange below, it is not necessarily a Little Woodstar. The key features to check are the eyestripe, the collar at the sides of the breast, and the tail pattern. Little Woodstar has a very narrow eyestripe, whilst Purple-throated has a broad eyestripe which sometimes flares out at the end like a pair of Victorian sideburns. The green on the upperparts of Purple-throated extends out on the upper sides of the breast, whereas on Little it does not. Purple-throated has dark tips to the central tail feathers, Little has a rufous tail with a narrow black band. The flanks of Purple-throated Woodstar are orange, and are usually darker than the throat; Little Woodstar has paler cinnamon-orange underparts, with no contrast between the throat and the flanks.

Males are easily identified by the buff wash on the collar, the ruby (not purple) throat, the dark green underparts with only a very narrow white belly at most, and the spiky tail.

Female