Gorgeted Puffleg
Surfbirds News: BirdLife International Archives
, a new species of hummingbird, has been discovered in Colombia.
But there are concerns over its future safety because the Serrania del Pinche mountains where it was discovered are unprotected.
Ornithologists Alexander Cort??s-Diago and Luis Alfonso Ortega made three sightings of the new hummingbird during surveys in 2005 of montane cloud forest in the Serrania del Pinche, south-west Colombia.
Gorgeted Puffleg ?? Alex Cortes
“We were essentially following a hunch,” said Alexander Cort??s-Diago of The Hummingbird Conservancy (Colombia) and co-discoverer of Gorgeted Puffleg. “We had heard that a new species of plant had been discovered in the region in 1994. This discovery and the isolation of the Serrania led us to believe there could also be new species of vertebrates.”
“Though we expected to find new species of amphibians and new ranges for birds, the discovery of a new hummingbird was completely unexpected.” |
