Discovered hummingbirds have colorful feathers

A beautiful new blue and green hummingbird species discovered in the jungle in Colombia and immediately needs protection from human hunting. Called a feathered bird, this new creature is twice as large as hummingbirds found in the western United States.

They have iridescent emerald green feathers and bright blue feathers on the top of the throat, and the white hairs at the feet.

The anthropologists Alexander Cortés-Diago and Luis Alfonso Ortega saw the hummingbird three times in 2005 during a survey of the dense forest in Serrania del Pinche in southwestern Colombia. After the birds were seen again in 2006, the photos were sent to the A. Koenig Zoological Research Museum in Germany for verification.

"We immediately suspected that this was a new bird," said André Weller at the International Conservation Fund Brehm. "Subsequent research has shown it to be the best discovery of a new hummingbird species in the last decade."

The isolation of the Serrania del Pinche region also means that it will contain many more species, but the area is threatened by the burning of forest trees. Experts need to build a new sanctuary to protect this unique feathered bird.

MT