libutron: Bearded Helmetcrests – Oxypogon guerinii The…
Bearded Helmetcrests – Oxypogon guerinii
The Bearded Helmetcrest, Oxypogon guerinii (Apodiformes – Trochilidae), is a hummingbird comprising four taxonomically distinct populations, named
as follows: O. g. cyanolaemus in the Sierra Nevada de Santa
Marta (Colombia), O. g. lindenii in the Venezuelan Andes, O. g. guerinii in the East Andes of Colombia south to
Cundinamarca, and O. g. stubelii in the Central Andes of
Colombia.These four taxa were originally described as
separate species, later they were lumped
without justification in the 1940s but they are highly distinct in
multiple plumage and morphometric characters, so it has recently been proposed to assign species
rank for all four populations.All four taxa has a long, pointed crest and black and white beards with a blue, green, or orange central stripe, and also a dark triangular patch on each side of the face.
Photo credits: [Top: ©Tom Friedel | Locality: Sumapaz National Park, Colombia, 2015] – [Middle: ©Juan José Arango | Locality: Nevado del Ruiz. Manizales, Colombia, 2014] – [Bottom: ©Pedro Arturo Camargo Martínez | Locality: Parque Nacional Natural SUMAPAZ, Colombia, 2012]
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1IsRi5T.
