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Description
The spectacular Blue-bearded Helmetcrest Oxypogon cyanolaemus, a hummingbird from Santa Marta mountains in Columbia, was recently rediscovered in the wild in March 2015. Before the March survey, over a decade of surveys had failed to detect any remaining population of this species, with the last known individual collected in 1946. Unfortunately, the bird was rediscovered in part because the region is experiencing an intense dry season. Combined with the agricultural burning by the Kogi indigenous people, the fragile high elevation habitat of the Santa Marta mountains--where the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest and other unique and rare plants and animals reside--is in peril.

Description
The spectacular Blue-bearded Helmetcrest Oxypogon cyanolaemus, a hummingbird from Santa Marta mountains in Columbia, was recently rediscovered in the wild in March 2015. Before the March survey, over a decade of surveys had failed to detect any remaining population of this species, with the last known individual collected in 1946. Unfortunately, the bird was rediscovered in part because the region is experiencing an intense dry season. Combined with the agricultural burning by the Kogi indigenous people, the fragile high elevation habitat of the Santa Marta mountains--where the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest and other unique and rare plants and animals reside--is in peril.