New Hummer Under Fire

A newly discovered hummingbird species—the Gorgeted Puffleg (above)—might soon be choked by the slashing and burning of trees by coca farmers, researchers said.

Investigators caught their first glimpse of the bird while surveying a mountain ridge in the Columbian province of Cauca in 2005. Braving rebels and drug traffickers, they returned to confirm the sighting.

Ornithologists are urging the government to protect the bird's tiny territory from the Columbian drugs industry, which relies on slashing and burning to grow illegal crops such as coca, the raw material in cocaine.

--LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Alex Cortes/BirdLife International/AP