New Hummingbird in Colombia

A new species of hummingbird has just been discovered in the cloud forests of southwestern Colombia. No surprise there. At roughly 1,800 species of birds, Colombia is second to no other country in the total species of birds that it has. Equator + Mountains = ginormous amounts of speciation in lots of different habitat types. With 2,500 species, South America is the bird continent.

Dubbed the Gorgeted Puffleg (Eriocnemis Isabellaea), the bird is quite spectacular.

He’s a puffleg, so he’s got the furry (feathers actually) “disco boots” around his legs. But what struck me the most is that the group of feathers underneath his tail (called the undertail coverts) are iridescent! Lots of hummingbirds have iridescence on their throats, but I can’t recall off the top of my head any that have iridescent undertail coverts. (I’m sure there are plenty in the tropics that I’m just not familar with.)

Despite having so many amazing birds, the article succinctly captures why most birders and even ornithologists don’t usually make it to Colombia.

Investigators caught their first glimpse of the bird while surveying a mountain ridge in the Cauca province in 2005. Braving the zone’s leftist rebels and drug traffickers, they returned to confirm the sighting.

The article also highlights fears that habitat loss from growing drug crops threatens the bird’s existence.

Still, it’s pretty amazing that we’re still discovering new species. There are something like 325 species of hummingbird alone, confined entirely to the new world.

I welcome each and every addition to this group.