Blue-bearded helmetcrest
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Oxypogon cyanolaemus

The blue-bearded helmetcrest (Oxypogon cyanolaemus ) is a Critically Endangered species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of northern Colombia.

Appearance

The blue-bearded helmetcrest is about 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long. It has a short straight bill. The male has a long black and white crest and a mostly dusky face with a buffy-white "collar". Its upperparts are olive green. Its throat has a thin white "beard" with a purplish blue center stripe. The rest of the underparts are dingy buff with olive spots that blends to buffy white on the undertail coverts. The tail is moderately long and forked. The upper side of the central tail feathers is bronzy olive and the rest are white with reddish bronze fringes and tips, and the underside is cream with wide olive tips. The adult female is similar to the male but lacks the crest and beard, is overall duller, and has a white throat. Juveniles resemble the adult female but without the white throat.

Distribution

Geography

Continents
Countries
Biogeographical realms

The blue-bearded helmetcrest is found only in the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of northern Colombia. It inhabits páramo grasslands at elevations between 3,000 and 4,800 m (9,800 and 15,700 ft).

Blue-bearded helmetcrest habitat map
Blue-bearded helmetcrest habitat map
Blue-bearded helmetcrest
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Habits and Lifestyle

Nothing is known about the blue-bearded helmetcrest's movements, if any.

Lifestyle
Seasonal behavior
Bird's call

Diet and Nutrition

Little is known about the blue-bearded helmetcrest's diet or feeding method. It has been observed feeding on nectar at a few species of flowering herbs and shrubs, both by hovering and by clinging to the flowers. Its primary food source appears to be Libanothamnus occultus.

Mating Habits

Nothing is known about the blue-bearded helmetcrest's breeding phenology.

Population

Population number

The IUCN has assessed the blue-bearded helmetcrest as Critically Endangered. Its population is estimated at fewer than 250 mature individuals and is believed to be declining. The species was known only from 62 museum specimens with the most recent record in 1946. Surveys during 1999-2003 failed to detect the species. Brief surveys in February 2007 and December 2011 also failed to detect the species. In March 2015, the blue-bearded helmetcrest was rediscovered by researchers from the foundation ProAves while documenting fires set by local farmers. Though the species' entire range is nominally protected in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park, Indigenous people regularly burn the páramo to produced cattle pasture and collect Libanothamnus occultus for firewood.

References

1. Blue-bearded helmetcrest Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-bearded_helmetcrest
2. Blue-bearded helmetcrest on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22726798/126028398
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/620920

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