Blue-bearded Helmetcrest
Oxypogon cyanolaemus
One of the world’s rarest and most endangered hummingbirds, found only at extremely high elevations in Colombia’s Santa Marta Mountains. It does not occur in the areas typically visited by birders, and seeing one requires a multi-day camping expedition over very steep terrain. Adult male’s green and blue beard, black and white head pattern, and shaggy crest are distinctive. Female and younger males lack the crest and beard, and can be recognized by their size, short bill, and white collar. Feeds in flowering bushes in and around high elevation grassland; often clings to flowers while feeding.
Identification
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.
Taxonomy
The blue-bearded helmetcrest was formerly considered to be a subspecies of what was known as the bearded helmetcrest (Oxypogon guerinii). The blue-bearded helmetcrest was promoted to species status when the bearded helmetcrest was split into four species based on a study of biometric and plumage data published in 2013. The nominate subspecies was renamed the green-bearded helmetcrest. The blue-bearded helmetcrest is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Oxypogon cyanolaemus
- Authority
- Salvin & Godman, 1880
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
- Genus
- Oxypogon
Range and habitat
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).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Nothing is known about the blue-bearded helmetcrest's movements, if any. <p>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.<p>Nothing is known about the blue-bearded helmetcrest's breeding phenology. <p>As of February 2022, Xeno-canto had two recordings of blue-bearded helmetcrest vocalizations and Cornell University's Macaulay Library had 13.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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