Blue-bearded Helmetcrest Oxypogon cyanolaemus Scientific name definitions

Blue-bearded Helmetcrest is restricted to the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, and is perhaps the rarest and least known members of the genus. The English name refers to the throat gorget, which is long and thin - beardlike in shape - and is glittering purplish green and blue, with a narrow white border.

c. 11·5 cm. Very short-billed hummingbird (c. 0·8 cm), mainly olive-green above, with long, pointed, black-and-white crest and shaggy, white “beard” with purplish-blue central stripe, head-sides dusky, with broad buffy-white collar, rest of underparts dingy buff, scaled grey on breast, with some olive-coloured discs, becoming buffy white on vent to undertail-coverts; comparatively long, slightly forked tail, the central rectrices being bronzy olive, but rest mostly white, with broad reddish-bronze fringes and tips, and underside is mainly cream with broad olive tips. Female is like male, but lacks “beard” or crest, has white throat and is overall duller. Juvenile lacks white throat, but is otherwise like female.

Santa Marta Mts, in N Colombia.

High-altitude páramo grassland at 3000–4800 m (2 Todd, W. E. C., and M. A. Carriker (1922). The Birds of the Santa Marta Region of Colombia: a Study in Altitudinal Distribution. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 14:609 Close ).

Other Oxypogon species feed principally on Espeletia spp.; the only member of the Espeletiinae subtribe in the Santa Marta massif is Libanothamnus occultus (1 Collar, N.J. and Salaman, P. (2013). The taxonomic and conservation status of the Oxypogon helmetcrests. Conservación Colombiana. 19: 31–38. Close ). In Mar 2015 was observed feeding, both by hovering and clinging to plants, at flowers of four herbs and shrubs (3 Rojas, C.J. and Vasquez, C. (2015). Rediscovery of the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest Oxypogon cyanolaemus, a hummingbird lost for almost 7114 years. Conservación Colombiana. 22: 4–7. Close ).

Voice basically unknown, although during the Mar 2015 observations, a flight call broadly reminiscent of Green Violetear (Colibri thalassinus) was heard during prolonged direct flights over larger distances (3 Rojas, C.J. and Vasquez, C. (2015). Rediscovery of the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest Oxypogon cyanolaemus, a hummingbird lost for almost 7114 years. Conservación Colombiana. 22: 4–7. Close ).

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. CITES II. Endemic to the Santa Marta massif of NE Colombia. Until early Mar 2015, there had been no confirmed records since 1946, despite recent surveys in 1999–2003 (4 Strewe, R., and C. Navarro (2004). The threatened birds of the Río Frío Valley, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Cotinga 22:47–55. Close ), Feb 2007 BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Oxypogon cyanolaemus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/12/2014. and 2011 (5 Luna, J.C. and Quevedo, A. (2012). Primera fotografía en su habitat y nuevo avistamiento del Cucarachero de Santa Marta Troglodytes monticola, especie en peligro crítico Conservación Colombiana. 17: 31-32. Close ). However, in 2015, three birds were observed in a remote part of the mountain range, in a < 10-ha páramo at c. 3930 m that had been heavily impacted by a fire started by local people (3 Rojas, C.J. and Vasquez, C. (2015). Rediscovery of the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest Oxypogon cyanolaemus, a hummingbird lost for almost 7114 years. Conservación Colombiana. 22: 4–7. Close ). Even in the early 20th century it was reported to be scarce and signs of degradation of its páramo habitat may have been apparent (2 Todd, W. E. C., and M. A. Carriker (1922). The Birds of the Santa Marta Region of Colombia: a Study in Altitudinal Distribution. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 14:609 Close ). Nevertheless, 62 museum specimens have been located (1 Collar, N.J. and Salaman, P. (2013). The taxonomic and conservation status of the Oxypogon helmetcrests. Conservación Colombiana. 19: 31–38. Close ). Deforestation, extensive burning and overgrazing have caused severe and widespread and habitat loss and degradation within this species' range. Its putative principal food source, Libanothamnus occultus, is itself Critically Endangered in Colombia (1 Collar, N.J. and Salaman, P. (2013). The taxonomic and conservation status of the Oxypogon helmetcrests. Conservación Colombiana. 19: 31–38. Close ). Indigenous people herd cattle on the páramo and regularly burn it to produce fresh pasture; they also harvest Libanothamnus occultus for firewood (1 Collar, N.J. and Salaman, P. (2013). The taxonomic and conservation status of the Oxypogon helmetcrests. Conservación Colombiana. 19: 31–38. Close ). There are insufficient data with which to calculate population size or trend, but on the basis of the little that is known the species is assumed to number fewer than 250 mature individuals and to be in decline BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Oxypogon cyanolaemus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/12/2014. . The species’ entire range lies within Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park (IUCN Cat. II; 3830 km²). There is an urgent need to search for any additional remaining populations of the species and to improve the protection of páramos within the national park.