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April 10, 2005
Swarovski Land Purchase Protects Critically Endangered Hummingbird in Colombia
A grant from Swarovski is enabling ABC and ProAves Colombia to create a new reserve for the Critically Endangered Colorful Puffleg, along with other endangered bird and amphibian species.
The Colorful Puffleg is one of the world’s most threatened hummingbirds. It is an extreme habitat specialist, found only in wet montane forests on the Pacific slope of the west Andes, in southwest Colombia. Already scarce (its population is estimated at only 50-250 individuals), the Colorful Puffleg is further threatened by logging, grazing, and other habitat degradation.
Coppery-bellied Puffleg, Colombia, Bogota May 2004 © Nigel Driver from Surfbirds Galleries
ProAves is in the process of negotiating the purchase of 5,000 acres of land that would protect core populations of the Colorful Puffleg and another critically endangered species, the Munchique Wood-Wren. Surveys at the site have revealed 16 other threatened bird species, two endangered frog species, and high levels of endemism in other flora and fauna. The Alliance for Zero Extinction has declared the property an essential site for conservation.
ProAves Colombia will restore, manage, and protect the site. The Colorful Puffleg population will continue to be studied and monitored, helping to bring this species back from the brink of extinction.
ABC is grateful to Tropical Birding for their assistance in making this grant possible..
Posted by Surfbirds at April 10, 2005 12:18 AM
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