Species Profile: Colorful Puffleg

Jewel of the Andes Saved with Swarovski Optik’s Help

Colorful Puffleg. Photo: Luis Mazariegos

The Colorful Puffleg is surely one of the world’s most enigmatic hummingbirds. Endemic to a tiny area in the northern Andes of Colombia, this resplendent hummingbird remained undiscovered until April 1967, when photographer John Dunning was mist-netting below Cerro Munchique, and caught what he described as a “miraculous” bird, and named it as such: Eriocnemis mirabilis, the Colorful Puffleg.

Unfortunately, the species disappeared again as quickly as it was discovered, and after years of unsuccessful searches, became an enigma. It was not until 1999 that ornithologists from ABC’s Colombian partner, Fundación ProAves, finally managed to relocate the species.

The male Colorful Puffleg is a spectacular sight. It is a dark, shining green with a lighter green forehead and gorget, gleaming blue belly, and red and coppery-gold tail and tail coverts. Its white leg-puffs (found on both male and female) are fringed with cinnamon.

The site where the Colorful Puffleg occurs is Cerro Munchique, one of the highest peaks of the Western Cordillera, a branch of the northernmost Andes in Colombia. Cerro Munchique contains one of the world’s wettest forests with more than 27 feet of rainfall per year, and perpetual mists enveloping the area. This cloud forest is also a little more than 24 miles from the Pacific Ocean, but rises to an altitude of 7,300 feet.

Settlers have been invading the region where this species occurs to clear habitat for crops, cattle grazing, and illicit opium plantations. The Colorful Puffleg is considered critically endangered, and qualifies as an Alliance for Zero Extinction species, since it is found at only one site. Without immediate conservation action, the Colorful Puffleg could have faced a bleak future.

Fortunately, with a generous grant from Swarovski Optik, 5,000 acres of forest has been purchased to protect the species. A management plan has also been developed to ensure that the reserve is well protected in the long-term. Birders can also visit this reserve by arrangement with ProAves Colombia.

Thanks to effective, timely conservation action, this “most colorful jewel” of a hummingbird is safe for now, and can be appreciated by birders everywhere.