A new blue-and-green-throated hummingbird species has been discovered in a cloud forest in Colombia, and already needs protection from human encroachment, the experts who found the bird said on Sunday.Link to Reuters report on IOL and photos on Xinhua
Called the gorgeted puffleg, the new species is easily twice as big as the thumb-sized hummingbirds found in the eastern United States, measuring between 90 and 100mm in length, its discoverers said in answer to emailed questions.
The name comes from the iridescent emerald green and electric blue patch on the throat - the gorge - on males, and from tufts of white feathers at the top of the legs, a characteristic of so-called puffleg hummers.
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