New bird species discovered in Colombian cloud forest

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — A multicolored bird with reddish-brown and black eyes has been discovered as a new species in a Colombian cloud forest accessible only by helicopter, scientists say.

The fist-sized yellow and black Yariguies brush-finch, topped with an orange plume, was found by a Colombian-English ProAves Foundation team high atop the country's eastern Andean range in Santander province.

Discovery of the bird, named after an Indian tribe that once lived in the nature reserve where it was found, was published in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club.

Colombia, one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world, has about 1,800 species of birds. One of the two birds caught by the team was released unharmed after they took pictures and DNA samples, while the other died in captivity.

"The description of a new bird is a rare event," said expedition member Blanca Huertas of The Natural History Museum in London. "However, this is just the first of several new species that we will be describing from the Yariguies mountains, including several new butterflies."

Legend has it that the Yariguies tribe committed mass suicide to avoid enslavement by Spanish conquistadors.

For conservationists, the discovery of the species came at a crucial time — the government has decided to set aside 500 acres of the pristine cloud forest where the bird lives to create a national park.

To access the bird's isolated habitat, Briton Thomas Donegan and Colombian research partner Blanca Huertas, who discovered the bird in January 2004, regularly hiked 12 hours into the nearly impenetrable jungle, depending on helicopters to drop off supplies at mountain peaks 10,000 feet above sea level.

The last new bird discovery in Colombia was a Tapaculos species found last year.