Return of Bird of the Week: Bearded Mountaineer
One of the charms of hummingbirds is that some of them have wonderful names. One such hummingbird is the Bearded Mountaineer.
Bearded Mountaineer. Ollantaytambo, Peru
It’s called a “Mountaineer” because it’s a high elevation hummingbird, found exclusively between 2,500–3,900 meters in a few intermontane valleys in central Peru. Think about it: this is an area at 9,160 feet, a place where WC was gasping for breath just walking, and there’s this hummingbird that beats it wings 80 times per second without any trouble at all.
The “Bearded” part of the name is also completely apt, once you see a male displaying:
Bearded Mountaineer, Ollyantantambo,Peru
The photo doesn’t really do justice this species’ gorget; it’s much more spectacular than shown here. But this is an infamously shy species, not common even in its range. This bird was attracted by the Tree Tobacco blossoms on the hotel grounds. It didn’t hang around long.
Like so many neotropical birds, this species is poorly studied. It seems to have adapted to some human alterations to its habitat, especially introduced long stem flowers and eucalyptus blossoms. Despite its pretty narrow range, the species is rated as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List.
It’s always a delight to wander on a hotel grounds and stumble on a new bird species.
For more bird photographs, please visit Frozen Feather Images.