Found today, gone tomorrow

Hummingbirds are amazing. I must confess that when I first came to California I had no idea that you had hummingbirds here. I can still stare at them in wonderment. They're just so small, and feisty.

A new species of hummingbird, the gorgeted puffleg, has been discovered in the mountains of Colombia, but environmentalists fear the discovery will be short-lived – the bird is already threatened with extinction.

The bird was first spotted in 2005 and new expeditions in 2006 confirmed it as a new species of hummingbird - Eriocnemis isabellae.

Unfortunately it is thought that the bird's range must be very small in order for it to go undiscovered for so long and the bird's habitat is being threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture and encroaching coca fields.

There is a report on the discovery in New Scientist here.

The picture is pretty cool. Something about it reminds me of the infamous youtube praire dog 'dramatic look' video.

This time last year: Rachel Carson, Fred Soper and DDT